LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. — It's a holiday contest that could change a person's life.
So many people with disabilities wish they had a service animal that could alert them before a medical episode, or alert others that they need help. One local service animal training company in Loxahatchee is granting that wish for free.
It takes months, even years, and thousands of dollars to train a dog to be a service animal
"It's super costly for people that need a service dog, and a lot of times people can't afford them," said Ariana Santiago, co-owner of Fine Line Family K-9 in Loxahatchee.
In the spirit of giving back to the community that's helped them get on their feet, Fine Line Family K-9 is offering a fully trained service animal to an individual with a disability for free.
"So fully trained meaning all of its obedience, all of its public access hours, and the dog is going to be customized to the person's needs or disability," said Santiago.
This is how the contest works: on the Fine Line Family K-9 website, there's an application to enter the contest.
On Christmas Day, the company will randomly select a winner. Then training begins to teach the dog how to respond or alert, depending on the disability.
"We're going to go through all the training with them and everything they need to know about their new service dog," said Santiago.
