It started in December, 2010 with a visit from SNK9 to Mrs. Ebanietti’s 7th grade class at Eisenhower Middle School in Wyckoff, NJ. Our mission for this visit was to raise awareness about homeless and needy animals to our younger generation.

Abby, Cameron, Caroline, Connor, Elliot, Eric, Kara, Mike and Ryan were the students in this 7th grade class. They listened and took everything to heart. But that was just not enough for them. Now that they knew the horror that so many homeless pets have to go through, they wanted to make a difference and help save lives.

And so they did. These 12 and 13 year old kids embarked on a mission to raise money for Special Needs K9 by selling customized dog bowls and walking dogs. It was called their “Dog Bowls Project”, and they called themselves SNK9 “Puppy Pals.”

In mid June, 2011 just before the summer break and after months of hard work and dedication, the Puppy Pals contacted us and said they were ready to present us with their contribution.

SNK9 Puppy Pals sold 102 dog bowls, walked 18 dogs, collected $71.00 in coin donations, and $105.00 from a bake sale…GRAND TOTAL: An unbelievable $687.75…that is not counting the 16 bowls made for SNK9 to use for our foster dogs.

So our hats off to these young people…the Puppy Pals…for not letting it in one ear and out the other, for not looking the other way! They are our heroes and inspiration.

Special thanks to Mrs. Ebanietti, Eisenhower Middle School and we must not forget the parents of these amazing kids, who did such a wonderful job in raisinig their children.

Thank you PUPPY PALS!

Isabella, the Shar Pei/Lab mix who suffered from an extreme case of entropion can finally see again.

Isabella had her surgery 6 weeks ago and it was a huge success. Dr. Cattiny of Pompton Lakes Animal Hospital performed the surgery and had to reconstruct parts of Isabella’s eye lids. This was the most severe case of entropion anyone of us has ever seen.

Isabella now moves her head around non-stop to look at every little movement as she enjoys her new gift of sight. Her recovery has been amazing as the photos below show her journey from before surgery (left), two days post surgery (middle), and finally six weeks after (right).

Click on each image to enlarge.

Click here to read about Isabella’s story and her journey to be able to open her eyes and see again.

Special Needs K9 is proud to have received the “Shelter/Rescue of the Week Award” by SPCA International, an award recognizing shelters and rescues from all around the world.

Chance, the Boxer/American Bulldog mix that was abandoned inside the basement of a vacant inner city house and left there to die before being rescued by SNK9, has finally been adopted.

After several months of rehabilitation, training and gaining 40 lbs, Chance has found his “perfect” family. He now has the life that he and so many others deserve. His new family, consisting of three young children and their parents, loves him very much.

After our visit with the family to finalize the adoption, we witnessed how this gentle giant shows his gratitude and love by playing ever so gently with all the children. It was very obvious that Chance and his family are a perfect match.

We don’t need to wish him the best of luck…he has already won the jackpot!

To read about Chance and view his original post with photos click here.