Sadie, a well-mannered black Labrador, and Concordia professor Dr. Lisa Ashby, Sadie's handler, were featured May 16 on Channel 8 KLKN-TV. Reporter Jill Johnson traveled to Seward to tape Sadie interacting with students and residents at a local nursing home earlier this month; she also interviewed Ashby and student Rachel Schroeder.
Ashby and Sadie garnered attention by being named for the 2008 Animal Rescue award by the Cornhusker Regional Chapter of the American Red Cross in their annual Tribute to Heroes. The Tribute to Heroes celebration will take place on Thursday, May 22, at the Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln, Neb.
"Sadie and I are a team," said Ashby. "I adopted her in 2003, and she showed an innate response to others' emotion early on, so we trained in order to minister to those in need."
Sadie and Ashby have teamed up with other canine rescue teams to serve those affected by tragedies across the country. They worked with those in shelters after hurricanes Rita and Katrina, those involved in the shooting at Westroads Mall in Omaha, Neb., and the students at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill., after the shooting there.
Sadie is also a presence on the campus of Concordia University, Nebraska where Ashby chairs the Department of English; Sadie works with students in the counseling center and hangs out on campus, especially during the more stressful times of the year.
"I am amazed by what Sadie can do," says Ashby. "She picks those who need her and lets them just stop and pet her. She also opens up the door for them to be able to talk to me if they wish. She is also my stress relief!"
See also: View the KLKN-TV feature on Sadie and Dr. Lisa Ashby.