There are big plans for a little lab dog named Toby.Toby arrived in Drumheller on Monday, May 28, and while most dogs are not allowed in public places like restaurants and buses, Toby is an exception, because he is a guide dog in training and needs to get used to going wherever his owner does.
A working guide dog provides mobility and independence to people who are visually impaired.
The volunteers who have opened their hearts and homes to this eight week old puppy are Kim Mculley and her husband Stewart Wright, and will have the puppy for the next year.
“We’re just thrilled this puppy is going to be with us,” said McCulley.
The couple decided to adopt the puppy after having to put down their dog.
“It was unbearable losing our dog, we did not want to go through that pain again, so we thought raising a puppy for a good cause would be a perfect fit” said McCulley.
The main task for the volunteers that take in the dogs is to have them socialized, and make sure there is no rough housing, the puppies are not allowed to chew on anything.
The driving force behind bringing the Relay for Life cancer fundraiser to Drumheller, passed away peacefully last Thursday in Drumheller. 34-year-old Tanya Howard’s legacy of a loving mother, wife, friend and caring nurse will live on. Her gift of moving a community into action to battle cancer at the Relay for Life after making her own battle very public, will never be forgotten by hundreds that grew to know and love her, and by probably thousands more whodidn’t have the chance to meet her. “Relay was never about her,” her husband Darrin told The Mail. “It was about people coming together for a common goal, to find a cure for all cancers. It was a time to hope and to have strength that there was a cure for having cancer. “Tanya always said, ‘a hug cannot cure cancer, but it can heal you in a way no drug can.’” Tanya grew up in Rockyford and received her Bachelors Degree in Nursing from Red Deer College. Her career took her to the Peter Lougheed Intensive Care Unit in Calgary, and a practicum in Yellowknife, before she settled back in the Drumheller area to start a family with husband Darrin Howard. Together they raised three sons, Joel, Matthew and Mitchell.
