INDIANAPOLIS — INDIANAPOLIS — Transforming the lives of dogs in shelters and rescue organizations, and improving the lives of people living with disabilities; those are the goals of Medical Mutts, a non-profit organization centered in Indy's north side.
"It's a life purpose," Jennifer Cattet said.
Cattet is Medical Mutts executive director, as well as the organizations founder - starting the nonprofit back in 2013.
Their role is to give rescue dogs a new purpose.
"To show that dogs, even those that have been through a really difficult time or have been surrendered, with the right type of training, the right situation, that these dogs can thrive and even potentially save a life," Cattet said.
While also transforming the lives of those living with life-threatening conditions such as diabetes or seizures, or psychiatric issues that can cause hardship to everyday life, such as anxiety or PTSD.
“We felt it was very important to help both of those populations," Cattet said. "And by bringing them together, we’re creating partnerships where they help each other."
Those partnerships are at the heart of Medical Mutts' mission.
"We say that we’re saving dogs, helping people and promoting kindness, and you really do see that day to day," Abby Harlan said.
Harlan is the Director of Development for Medical Mutts. She told WRTV the organization is helping improve the lives of two vulnerable populations.
“There are so many dogs that need homes and that need the support that we can provide," Harlan said. "And there are so many people that are not living the way they could be or they should be.”
Both Cattet and Harlan have seen the benefits a program like this can provide.
“We placed a dog last year that really touched me because the woman was sharing with me that she had never been able to go out on her own, and her dream was to just go do her groceries," Cattet explained. "And the dog that she got allowed her to do that for the very first time.”
"The fact that we can give a new lease on life for both of them just gives us a lot of hope," Harlan said.
The organization keeps about 30 dogs on-site at any given time. However, only about 25-30% of the dogs will actually graduate from the program. The rest are then put up for adoption.
Cattet said that's something people should take advantage of.
“They’re still wonderful dogs," Cattet emphasized. "We’re trying to do the best we can to make sure they go to a really good family as well.”
The Medical Mutts team is always looking for volunteers to work at the shelter as well as volunteers to foster some of their service dogs in training.
For more information you can go to their website here.
