4 Paws for Ability, Inc.

From founding in a one-bedroom apartment in Batavia, OH with a single person to a purpose-built service dog training and placement campus in Xenia, OH, employing more than 75 people and hundreds of volunteers, 4 Paws for Ability has always worked to help people with disabilities acquire task-trained service dogs.

Karen Shirk, the founder, struggled to obtain a service dog from other agencies and so in 1998, she founded 4 Paws for Ability to help others like her access the life-changing love, assistance, and support offered by a service dog. More than 1,500 service dog teams have graduated from 4 Paws because of this commitment.