b'realitysoundbites.Hillsborough Countys New Shining StarAs a service dog, Mason Star has been trained to recognize signsofanxietyorstressandintervene. Thefour-year-oldLabradorRetriever is now working for the Hillsborough County SheriffsOffice, having been donated to the agency by K9s For Warriors. As we learn so much what these dogs can do for our warriors,we looked around and saw a national crisis of mental health withour sheriffs deputies, police officers, and first responders, saidRory Diamond, CEO of K9s For Warriors.Mason will also help people who are victimized by or wit-nessed crime in addition to helping deputies with their mentalhealth needs. He was even specially-trained to handle the YborCity chickens. He is chicken-resistant, said Diamond, shouldhe need to encounter the chickens and roosters during his duties.During a presentation, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said, Mason will be a life-changer for us. Ithink I can go as far as to say hell even be a lifesaver.Committed to conquering veteran suicide, K9s for Warriors, based in Ponte Verde, Florida, pairs trained service dogswith veterans diagnosed with PTSD, TBI or MST. Many of the dogs they train have been pulled from shelters. To date,they have rescued more than 1,300 dogs, including more than 340 from 60 shelters in the past three years alone.For more information visit www.K9sforwarriors.com UCentral Florida Comes Together, Raises $1 Million Dollars For ShelterOn the evening of September 15, 2021, a fire broke out at ters Director of Philanthropy and Marketing. As we movePet Alliance of Greater Orlando. Seventeen cats died in forward, these donations will help us in our ongoing oper-the fire; 45 cats and 26 dogs were rescued. The roof caved ations and assist in building a new shelter.in, and the whole building is a near-total loss. When we vis- Two-yearsago,PetAlliancebeganplanningacapitalited, there was a small makeshift memorial that someone set campaign to build a much-needed new Orlando facility. Inup under the shelters main entrance sign with a plaque March 2021, the purchase of a piece of property on Johnhonoring the cats whose lives were lost. 13 Angels Found Young Parkway was finalized and the campaign began inTheirWings.Thatwastheoriginalnumberofcats earnest. The total goal of the campaign is $14-million, andthought to have perished in the fire. $2 million had already been committed. The building aloneis estimated to cost $10-million in supplies and labor. A very special thanks to huge shelter supporter and ani-mal advocate, Stanley Steemer (also an advertising partnerofTheNewBarker). Theydonatedwarehousespacetohouse the massive donations of food and supplies. UTherehasbeensuchanoverwhelmingoutpouringofhelp from the community and across the state.Nearly $1million dollars was raised in less than three weeks. I havenever seen anything like that, said Cathy Rogers, the shel-14THE NEW BARKER www.TheNewBarker.com'