Idaho State University student Josh Kelly is looking for help to pay for over $4,500 in veterinary bills he incurred after his service dog suffered a serious injury.
Kelly’s service dog, Cletis, recently suffered a herniated disc that paralyzed him. Kelly took him to Salt Lake City where the dog had surgery to repair the disc. Kelly is hopeful that Cletis will make a 95 to 100 percent recovery.
Kelly, now looking at over $4,500 in veterinary bills, will be placing donation buckets around campus and is in the process of setting up a checking account through ISU Credit Union that would accept donations. Fundraisers are also being considered but nothing has been set up at this time.
Kelly is a geology major at ISU who suffers from epilepsy. He was injured in an accident where he fell from a ladder, which resulted in what Kelly called “massive head trauma induced epilepsy.”
Kelly reportedly bought $300 to $400 worth of literature after his accident and trained his 3-year-old Pit Bull to be his service dog over the course of 18 to 24 months.
“After the dog was comfortable around large groups of people, being in a restaurant, those sorts of situations, was the first day I brought him on campus,” said Kelly. “I took him to the ADA and got approval to be on campus with a service dog, all of that information.”
Cletis, now six years old, has been coming to ISU with Kelly for two years.
According to Kelly, Cletis has saved his life at least three times now by alerting others to Kelly having a seizure.
Cletis carries emergency numbers and medication in his service dog vest that he wears. Aside from alerting others to Kelly’s situation during each incident, paramedics have been able to call Kelly’s family to verify the medications listed for Kelly and his condition because of this.
“One thing I’d like to show about [Cletis] is it is all the way a dog is handled, trained and the conditions in which they are born in as far as the way that the dog behaves,” said Kelly.
Kelly said he has received good responses from students and staff on campus about Cletis being a Pit Bull.
“I’m very glad that has actually come out,” said Kelly. “That little bit of discriminatory kind of actions and everything towards Pit Bulls in general have all started to back off a little bit and people are realizing, you know, ‘Hey, they can be a good dog. It’s the way every dog is trained.’”
Kelly expressed frustration at children and adults alike who walk up or reach out and pet Cletis without asking.
“You don’t go up to any dog, let alone a service dog, and just start petting that dog,” Kelly said.
“If [people] come up and they ask me, I don’t mind it at all,” he added.
Kelly works with Disability Services, sometimes referred to as the ADA, regularly.
“The ADA here on campus is a wonderful group of people and they’ve done nothing but to help me,” said Kelly.
ADA stands for the Americans with Disabilities Act. It was initially enacted in 1990 and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. The law has been amended and updated numerous times since.
“The ADA is a civil rights law for people with disabilities,” explained Director of Disability Services Todd DeVries. “It attempts to balance society in a way that reduces access barriers to all kinds of things, public accommodations, state and local governments, transportation, telecommunications, employment.”
Disability Services accommodates students with physical, psychological, emotional, learning and sensory disabilities.
“We don’t exclude any disability,” said DeVries.
According to DeVries, close to 600 students are registered with Disability Services. Each semester, he said they serve between 300 and 350 students. He said those numbers were about average for a university the size of ISU.
Disability Services has provided Kelly with a letter of accommodation that describes his disability and his needs in addition to providing him with information on service dogs and the rights he has.
Kelly noted there are no state or federal certification or registration requirements for service dogs. This was echoed by DeVries, who said under service dog law, which is registered under the ADA, there are only two questions a person can be asked about his or her service dog. Those questions are, “Is this a service dog?” and “What service does this dog provide for you?”
DeVries explained there are some exclusions including food preparation areas and medical areas but in general the dog can go anywhere a human can go.
“If [students] have a disability, there are services available to them and it might be worth their time and energy to see what we have to offer,” said DeVries.
To help with Cletis’s veterinary bills before donation bins and other means are set up, you can contact Disability Services or Kelly directly at ude.usinull@3sojllek.