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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Gainesville animal shelter to close to serve veterans

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-8ae8956d-758e-6cd8-d7ef-bf10d92c7496"><span>Jimmy Ritten, a 42-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, poses with his service dog, Cody, after the pit bull’s graduation from Phoenix Animal Rescue’s veteran service dog program. Inspired by Ritten’s difficulty finding a service dog elsewhere, the Gainesville-based animal shelter will shut down on Dec. 31 and start the Pets and Patriots Foundation to focus on finding service dogs for veterans.</span></span></p>

Jimmy Ritten, a 42-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, poses with his service dog, Cody, after the pit bull’s graduation from Phoenix Animal Rescue’s veteran service dog program. Inspired by Ritten’s difficulty finding a service dog elsewhere, the Gainesville-based animal shelter will shut down on Dec. 31 and start the Pets and Patriots Foundation to focus on finding service dogs for veterans.

When Jimmy Ritten met his service dog Cody six months ago, his memory of war seemed to fade away.

In its place were slobbery kisses and marshmallow-soft fur.

“He’s brought our family back together,” said the 42-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, who suffers from anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. “All of our focus isn’t on the problems — it’s on him.”

After encountering two-year waits for a service dog elsewhere, he turned to Phoenix Animal Rescue, a Gainesville-based animal shelter located at 14250 W. Newberry Road. Inspired in part by Ritten’s story, the shelter announced Tuesday it would close down and begin solely serving military veterans in January as a part of its Pets and Patriots Foundation.

It will not charge the veterans for the dogs or their training, said Michelle Dunlap, the executive director of the shelter.

Dunlap said Ritten’s call made her realize there was a need for the organization to switch its focus.

“He tells me, ‘This dog saved my life,’” she said. “There’s so many veterans that need these dogs.”

After spending nine months in Kuwait, Ritten met a fellow veteran with a service dog and admired the companionship the dog gave him. In 2013, he began his search around the city but found many shelters had extended waiting periods for adoption.

But he couldn’t wait. Then he met Dunlap — and Cody. Six months later, in October, the pit bull graduated from Phoenix’s academy, later posing for a photo in a tasseled cap.

Since then, Ritten said, Cody has helped ease his anxiety and gave him the confidence to leave his house alone.

“He looks tough, but he’s like a big marshmallow,” he said.

When Dunlap first started her shelter in 2003, she wanted to rescue pit bulls, inspired by one named Phoenix, who was stolen and trained to fight before eventually reuniting with her family. Many of the shelter’s dogs are pit bulls.

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When looking for prospective service dogs, Dunlap said she often looks for dogs who are calm, agreeable and eager to learn. Phoenix gets its dogs from county and city shelters, among others.

Dunlap also has a service dog, Amber, who she originally fostered through her shelter. When she thinks of the pit bull, she’s reminded of the companionship Amber has given her to deal with anxiety, and how that can be spread to others.

“It’s almost like she reads my mind sometimes,” Dunlap said. “That’s the feedback we get from our veterans. Before they realize they have an issue, their dog is already aware.”

So far, the shelter has paired three service dogs with veterans and another with a woman who has a disability.

Last year, Gouri Romero, a Santa Fe College nursing student, found her dog at Phoenix.

The 23-year-old said she chose the shelter because of how helpful the staff was to her as she fostered and later adopted the pit bull, which she named Koko.

For Romero, the shelter’s new program is bittersweet.

“It’s definitely sad because it’s another family,” she said, “but I’m proud of the next step they’re going to take to help the veterans.”

Jimmy Ritten, a 42-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, poses with his service dog, Cody, after the pit bull’s graduation from Phoenix Animal Rescue’s veteran service dog program. Inspired by Ritten’s difficulty finding a service dog elsewhere, the Gainesville-based animal shelter will shut down on Dec. 31 and start the Pets and Patriots Foundation to focus on finding service dogs for veterans.

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