VICTORIA -- Staff at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) helped raise money for a retired police service dog fund, which supports the care of retired canines who suffer from lingering medical issues that were received on the job.
Recently, Nanaimo RCMP Const. Josh Grafton and his canine partner, Jager, visited the hospital to cheer up patients and staff and receive a $700 donation from staff members.
The donation is going towards a program called Ned's Wish which was created in 2016 in memory of a retired police dog named Ned, who died of injuries he suffered in the line of duty. Since then, the Ned's Wish program has helped other retired police dogs receive medication, wheelchairs, medically approved food and more.
Staff at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital say they are happy to support the program as police officers, human or otherwise, are often thrust into traumatic or stressful events in similar ways to emergency medical staff.
"Working in the emergency department, you see trauma in lives every day," said Sherry Volk, a nursing unit assistant in the emergency room of NRGH. "The staff in Nanaimo Emergency are big dog lovers, and appreciate that the police dogs and their handlers also face dangerous and unpredictable incidents."
"The staff at Nanaimo Emergency wanted to give a gift of gratitude to the police dogs, to let them and their handlers know, that we appreciate what they do for our community," said Volk.
Anyone interesting in donating to Ned's Wish can do so online here.
