Pictured: Katie McCoy and her Guide Dog Bristol. Photo courtesy of Dogs Inc.

Nine years ago Katie McCoy had her life changed forever. McCoy, then 24, was born with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye condition that inhibits her ability to see in the dark, negates any peripheral vision and causes her to struggle with depth perception. It was, for much of her life, not only an extremely isolating condition, but a dangerous one as well. Then came Bristol, her guide dog from the Palmetto-based nonprofit Dogs Inc. “The first moment where I realized that this was going to change my life was during our training together when we did traffic checks. A traffic check is when your dog stops you from getting hit by a car, I’ve been hit by cars so I was pretty nervous that day of training because they have different types of vehicles coming at you from different angles,” says McCoy. “Bristol stopped every single time so that there was no point to where we were ever even close to being hit by a car. I thought to myself, ‘this dog is going to save my life’ and she has, multiple times.”

Bristol, a yellow lab, and McCoy have been paired together for the last nine years. They’ve formed a bond that goes so much deeper than just that of a pet–Bristol has been McCoy’s lifeline, the catalyst that has allowed McCoy to live life on her terms Together, the pair have hiked through National Parks, attended music festivals and traveled to Disney World.

McCoy’s story is just one of many that have been made possible through Dogs Inc., which provides their services–which include training, housing, preventative veterinary care and the service/guide dogs themselves–free of charge to their recipients. Last month, Dogs Inc., released their animated short Ace, a prequel to their 2018 award-winning animated short film Pip, which has amassed nearly half a billion views on YouTube. Visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_lBQkhZs2g to watch Ace.

Dogs Inc, 4210 77 St E, Palmetto, 941-729-5665.

Pictured: Katie McCoy and her Guide Dog Bristol. Photo courtesy of Dogs Inc.

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