An Aylsham woman is fundraising for a much-needed service dog.
Tracey Sandbach experiences panic attacks and paranoia. Her situation has worsened to the point that a dog is necessary if she wants to live on her own, according to her doctors.
“I’ve suffered now from a mental illness since I was 15 and it is progressively getting worse. In order to stay living on my own, I need to purchase a service dog,” Sandbach said in a phone interview.
The dog won’t come cheap. After consulting with companies in Alberta and the United States, Sandbach chose to purchase her dog from Civil K9 in Ontario for $12,000. The other options ran for $15,000 and $25,000.
“The cost is a huge amount for my income,” said Sandbach.
She started a gofundme fundraising page almost a year ago and is planning a fundraising meal in March. Sandbach will be confronting one of her fears the night of the supper - she’ll be speaking to the group that attends the meal.
“I’m very, very nervous and I’m trying to write something up so that I can read it off, because it’s very hard for me to do any kind of public speaking or even be in the crowd itself.
“It’s going to be quite difficult for me, but my daughter will assist me as I try and explain what I go through in my mental illness.”
The dog, a Dutch shepherd she’ll name Shadow, could make its way to Aylsham as early as April.
“The dog will bring me back down from my panic attacks as well as with my paranoia, it’ll keep me grounded in a stable mental health. It will also help me as I enter into the public, which is very hard for me because I am terrified of people around me.”
Civil K9 is currently training the dog and will meet with Sandbach when the animal is ready.
“They will, at that point, come out here and do some more training one-on-one with me and the dog. They’ll make sure it’s adapted to me, as well as me to it, before they finalize it.”
