Employer Approval Form
Dear Employer,
Your employee has applied to be a volunteer Puppy-Raiser or Sitter for Pacific Assistance Dogs Society (PADS). These volunteers are vital to our mission of providing life-changing assistance dogs to those that need them.
Under the supervision of our professional trainers:
- Puppy-Raisers supervise the care & training of one of our young dogs (8 weeks up to 2 years old) on a full-time basis.
- Sitters provide short-term care (a few days to a few weeks) for dogs in our program when their primary caregivers are unavailable.
Our assistance dogs- in-training have public access rights, which means that from 8 weeks old and onwards they accompany their Puppy-Raisers everywhere they go: on shopping trips or medical appointments, in cars and on transit, to sporting events, restaurants, or anywhere else a person would go in their day-to-day lives.
This includes accompanying their Puppy-Raisers into the workplace – in fact, this is a crucial part of their training. While at the workplace, the Puppy-Raiser or Sitter will always have the dog near them, and the dog will always remain under control. This is generally achieved with the use of a leash, or in some cases, a tether or a crate.
All Puppy-Raisers and Sitters are required to sign a legal agreement with PADS that stipulates that they are responsible for all damage caused by the puppy while in the Puppy-Raiser/Sitter’s care or possession. However, because our puppies are either in the direct care of the Puppy-Raiser or Sitter, or crated, such damage is extremely rare. PADS also carries full liability coverage for our dogs, in the unlikely event that someone were to be injured through an interaction with one of our dogs.
If you support your employee’s application to become a Puppy-Raiser/Sitter, please complete the attached permission form. In this way, you too will be contributing to the life-changing work of PADS! Thank you for your consideration, and please let me know if you have any questions or would like any more information
Kindest regards,
Lydia Cruttwell
Volunteer & Community Engagement Coordinator
Pacific Assistance Dogs Society
lydia@pads.ca | 604-527-0556