Ellen Bernegger, the founder of the group Guiding Eyes at SCSU, wanted to foster a community around the effort of raising these dogs.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Students at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) are fostering a diverse campus, one paw at a time. They’re focused on creating a community through volunteering with guide dogs.
Ella Bernegger, a sophomore, is the founder of Guiding Eyes puppy raising at SCSU.
“Our old dog [Trent] passed away last year. He was a fail-out from this program, and he ended up having a very successful career in narcotic detection with my mom,” Bernegger explained. Bernegger is training a 9-month-old yellow labrador retriever named Justice in honor of Trent.
Justice’s training will eventually lead him to become a guide dog for Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
She said she founded the group on campus because she wanted other students to be involved with this effort.
“It’s just been really nice to build this community with people who are interested in volunteer work or guiding eyes that organization but also just people who want to hang out and meet him as well,” Bernegger said.
The group on campus is always looking for more volunteers.
“You’re the one carrying the dog as hopefully he’ll be helping someone else one day,” she said.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
Kaye Paddyfote is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at kpaddyfote@fox61.com. Follow her on X and Instagram.
Do you have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iOS: Click here to download
Android: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
