Service dogs get free eye checkups from MSU vets

Correction: The story has been corrected to say “(Heidi) has really increased my independence.”

Valarie Franklin made a lifelong friend when she met Sunny in high school.

Since then she and Sunny, an 8-year-old golden retriever mix, have been inseparable. Franklin, a pharmacy senior at Ferris State University, brought Sunny to the MSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital Tuesday for an event that offered free eye exams for service dogs.

The event helped special dogs that do services for individual people and the community.

“He has definitely changed my life,” said Franklin, who was born with brittle bone disease and uses Sunny for assistance wherever she goes. “We spend a lot of time together.”

Some of the eligible clients were search-and-rescue dogs and leader dogs.

“Any dog that works for a living could be considered a service dog,” said Donna Letavish, a licensed veterinary technician at the hospital.

Letavish said they were using a “RetCam” to do a retinal examinations on the dogs.

Veterinary ophthalmologist and MSU assistant professor Joshua Bartoe said the hospital is interested in teaching, and performing services that support a cause.

“This is the first specific day that we’ve had for service dogs that was cost free to owners,” he said.

After running the program for the first time this year, Bartoe said he is hoping it will become an annual event.

Dog owners typically pay about $155 for a standard eye test, he said.

“I think it’s really important for the university to do this because a lot of people don’t have money,” said licensed veterinary technician Theresa Kay.

Kay was on hand to help perform examinations on the 13 to 14 dogs scheduled to come in.

“I think it’s important, and I’m having fun meeting the owners and dogs,” Kay said.

One of the dogs who received an eye exam at the event was Heidi, a 9-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, who was there with her owner Jill Gaus.

Gaus said she was born deaf and found out from MSU doctors that she was legally blind after she was married.

“When I found out that I was now deaf and blind, and had to use a cane, it was very hard for me,” Gaus said. “(Heidi) has really increased my independence.”

In 1999, Gaus started using Heidi for assistance.

“Once I got Heidi, my personality and my confidence came back,” she said. “The minute I met her the bond was there; it was immediate.”

Published on Tuesday, May 13, 2008