Stevie Wonderful wins 2020 Pedigree Rescue Dog of the Year
A blind Border Collie named Stevie Wonderful has been named the Pedigree 2020 Rescue Dog of the Year.
A blind Border Collie named Stevie Wonderful has been named the Pedigree 2020 Rescue Dog of the Year, an annual award given by the Pedigree Foundation.
He has been a greeter at the Cleveland Clinic for the past two years, according to Cleveland.com, which is where Dog O’Day heard of his story.
Stevie, named for the legendary musician Stevie Wonder, was found abandoned on the side of a freeway with a host of problems including heartworms and mange. He was taken to Indian Summers Border Collie Rescue, and then adopted by Richard and Debra Johnson, where he has three Golden Retriever siblings who he enjoys playing ball with.
(We don’t know if he’s a fan of the Browns, Cavaliers or Indians, but it seems likely.)
“I have never met a dog more deserving of being named Rescue Dog of the Year,” Dr Victoria Summers, ISBCR founder, told the Pedigree Foundation. “He carries hope in the wag of his tail.”
“Stevie Wonderful is a shining example of the joy greeter dogs can bring to patients,” Jennifer Reinke, coordinator of Caring Canines at Cleveland Clinic, told Cleveland.com.
On Wednesdays, Stevie works as a greeter at the hospital, where he works a 90-minute shift, the standard schedule for the 40 or so dogs who volunteer on a regular basis. Generally Stevie’s timeslot is from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., where he can be found easing anxiety and bringing smiles to the lobby.
“I think people relate to him because even though he is handicapped, he is providing a very useful service in an area where many seriously ill people relate to him,” Richard Johnson told Cleveland.com. “For a short period of time, they are forgetting about their own challenges. He makes everyone he meets smile! He makes me smile as well.”
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As the 2020 Rescue Dog of the Year, stuffies of Stevie can be purchased in the Pedigree Foundation store.