It gives me great pleasure to announce that this past week Special Needs Dobermans (SND) has surpassed the million dollar mark in dollars raised to help the Dobermans since its inception in 2001. As many of you know, SND now uses all of its donations to help support rescue groups — the focus being for the extraordinary medical expenses of individual Dobermans and for those expenses incurred for senior Dobermans awaiting placement.

It is due to the fantastic generosity of the many contributors that SND can continue to support the Dobermans in rescue. Both individuals and organizations have stepped up over the years to assist in this effort. Many DPCA members and a number of DPCA Chapter Clubs are included in the long list of contributors. This last week DPCA member Mary Ellen Harris was the “millionth” dollar contributor who put SND over the mark. THANK YOU, Mary Ellen and all the other generous folks who recognize the need to help these poor unfortunate Dobermans who end up in rescue.

And lastly, I can’t close without extending SND’s thanks to Michelle Lewis for her efforts over the years to support the senior Dobermans. Michelle was the one who conceived the idea for the Senior Doberman Project and worked with SND to establish the support system including the fundraising for the seniors. Michelle has personally been responsible for raising many tens of thousands of dollars for the seniors – last year alone SND provided some $33,000 to rescue groups in support of senior Dobermans. THANK YOU, Michelle.

Now we work on the second million…

Steve Martin
SND President Emeritus