Free Angel on a Leash by David Frei Page B

a part of the festivities of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. For a number of years, proceeds from the sale of the annual dog show poster went to Angel.
    During the evening competition, Westminster recognized the contributions of Angel On A Leash therapy dog teams in the community. Angel teams; patients and families from Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, Hackensack University Medical Center, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, and more; and doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals were introduced onto the floor to an enthusiastic response from the packed house at the Garden.
    The most enthusiastic response came in 2009 with the introduction of Uno, the 2008 Best in Show-winning Beagle; Jessie Kuebler, a pediatric oncology patient from Ronald McDonald House; and US Marine Lance Corporal Joshua Bleill, who had lost both of his legs in an explosion in Iraq. Uno was doing appearances all over the country for Angel On A Leash, including throwing out the first pitch at a St. Louis Cardinals’ baseball game, where Jessie, who lived in St. Louis, accompanied him on the field. Josh was a true American hero who had been visited by Uno when he had been at the Walter Reed Amputee Patient Clinic the previous spring. In fact, Josh had joined the Angel On A Leash board to help coordinate therapy dog programs with military hospitals, and Uno became one of our celebrity “spokesdogs.”
    People were up on their feet, cheering and crying for them all. It was a crowd reaction matched only by the response to Westminster’s tribute to the search and rescue dogs of September 11 back in 2002.

    The 2009 presentation got the attention of a gentleman named Joe Yanek, who came to our booth at the show the next day and wanted to help us with a grant from the Fluor Foundation to expand what Angel and Uno had done with Josh at Walter Reed. The Fluor Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Fluor Corporation, a Fortune 500 international engineering firm.
    We did a little research and proposed a therapy dog program for the Fisher House at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, home of the Fluor Corporation’s largest corporate headquarters. The Fisher Houses are homes away from home for families of patients receiving medical care at VA and other major military medical centers around the country. They are somewhat similar to Ronald McDonald Houses, with housing fees for the military members underwritten by the Fisher House Foundation.
    The Fluor grant focuses on supporting the rehabilitation of our wounded military while also supporting their family members. We staged workshops in Houston and got a number of volunteer Angel teams—employees from Fluor Corporation’s Houston Center and their dogs—to work quite quickly.
    This was great. It represented a new audience for us, and we were thrilled to be able to create a program to reach our military heroes and their families. We thank the Fluor Foundation for its generous, continued support, and we especially thank Joe for making it happen.

    In 2009, Angel On A Leash was part of a history-making event on the weekend before Westminster with its first ever Angel On A Leash Best In Show benefit, a beautiful event hosted by Ruth Pereira at the Affinia Manhattan Hotel across the street from Madison Square Garden. It was the greatest assembly of show dogs ever in one place, with five Westminster Best in Show winners dating back to 2001. The attendees got to see Uno, the Beagle (2008); James, the English Springer Spaniel (2007); Rufus, the Colored Bull Terrier (2006); Spice Girl, the Miniature Poodle (2002); and JR, the Bichon Frise (2001). Never had so many Westminster Best in Show dogs been in the same place at the same time.
    They all looked to me as if they could still run right into the show ring. The party was sold out and attracted media from New York and the dog show world, resulting in coverage from