When Asheville Fireman Mark Jameson returned to the fire station after responding to a particularly difficult call, the only thing that lifted his spirits was seeing Denali wagging her tail with excitement upon his return.
“We had a call that was DOA, dead on arrival,” Jameson said. “It was an older woman, lived by herself, no one had seen her for a while, and she passed. It’s a fact of life. But inside her house there were multiple dogs in crates, and they had passed away too because of lack of food and water. That’s a sucky call, no one wants to see that.”
Responding to these kinds of emergencies can be draining and leave first responders in a dark place, but having a service dog like Denali can make all the difference for frontline workers.
Service dog organization called Paws and Effect based in Asheville placed Denali with the Asheville Fire Department in January.