Mac The Therapy Dog
December 16, 2020
People can now have their very own Mac the therapy dog to cuddle.
Through a fundraiser launched on Friday (Dec. 11) plush stuffies of the popular University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) dog named Mac have been made available following his passing earlier this year.
Long-haired golden retriever, Macbeth (Mac for short), was an accredited Pacific Assistance Dogs Society (PADS) therapy dog who brought solace to students and staff at UFV. He died on June 26, 2020 at the age of 16.
Now 500 stuffies have been made in his memory for people to buy as part of the fundraiser for PADS which features three limited edition ‘2020 PADS Legends’ dogs.
“A very limited number of plush stuffies has been released by PADS, and Mac was chosen to be one of the phenomenal dogs immortalized this inaugural year,” said Dawn Holt, Mac’s former owner.
The other two 2020 PADS Legends are yellow Labrador retriever, Caber, and a black lab named Leahy.
Folks can purchase a 10” Mac – complete with his scruffy, long chest fur and a signature blue vest – for $20 online.
Mac worked for years with Holt in the counselling department at UFV. He retired at the age of 15 in 2019. “Mac was all about love and even though our world is full of powerfully negative emotions right now, he would want to remind us that love, compassion and kindness is still here, always,” Holt said. “One of Mac’s very good friends said, perfectly and profoundly, ‘Everyone could use a little Mac.’ I agree wholeheartedly,” Holt said.
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