Only a few times in a lifetime does an invention or idea come along that transforms the world. The printing press, penicillin, waste management, the telescope, the calendar and clock, the industrial revolution — the list could go on and on. One of the greatest inventions of our time is unarguably the Internet. It has the power to change lives and disseminate information instantaneously to the entire world. It affects how we live and learn on the most basic of levels.

According to a study initiated by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, there are nearly 1 in 50 people living with paralysis — approximately 6 million people. That's the same number of people as the combined populations of Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. And that number is nearly 33% higher than previous estimates showed.

It's been a while since our last blog entry. We've been very busy — hard at work on the major update to our website, adding features and making things clearer based on the input we've received from our members. There's a lot of planning, meetings, programming, writing, artwork (and more meetings) involved with what we're doing! As we move further along we'll post screen captures and more information on Twitter so be sure to follow @servicedog!

Want to learn more about how Service and Assistance Dogs can be trained to help kids with diabetes? Mercy Medical Center in Canton, OH will host a special program titled "Understanding Diabetes and the Role of an Alert Service Dog" from 6-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17, at the hospital's Ambulatory Care Center Auditorium.

Excellent news! The United States Senate has officially passed Sen. Al Franken's bill "The Service Dogs for Veterans Act," during a late night session last week. The bill is aimed at providing more Service and Assistance Dogs to disabled veterans. The program will partner with existing non-profit groups which train Service and Assistance Dogs. The three-year pilot program aims to train dogs to assist up to 200 disabled veterans who have mental or physical disabilities. During the course of the program The National Academy of Sciences will conduct a study to measure its effectiveness.

Yesterday Al Franken wrote an article for the Minneapolis Star Tribune about his first piece of legislation as senator of Minnesota. He could have written his first bill for anything, but he chose to write it to help disabled veterans get Service Dogs.

There is still a large prejudice in the general public over what exactly qualifies as a Service or Assistance Animal. Small animals especially are at risk for discrimination because of their size, but sometimes those animals are perfect for assisting with certain types of conditions such as hypoglycemic episodes in diabetics.

This is by no means Service Dog news, but it is absolutely incredible nevertheless. A stray dog wanders into traffic on a highway in Chile and is hit by oncoming traffic. Another stray dog sees the injured dog and pulls it to safety with it's paws. The injured dog lives after being spotted by highway workers.

We're proud to say one of our registrants is in the news! Darlene Guthrie, a retired Police Animal Control Officer uses her dog, Fancy, to help with her epileptic seizures. She's been featured on local television news and in the newspaper.