Pat Steer Memorial Fund

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Pat came to greyhounds rather late in her “dog life” but embraced them with a passion that retired racers often inspire those involved in their rescue. With her passing in 2012, Pat left KSGA the resources needed to continue helping greyhounds in need. Here are some of the hounds that have been helped in Pat’s memory.

The first recipient of a donation from Pat’s “Pay It Forward” fund is a dog from Florida named Secret aka CiCi. CiCi is a 4 1/2 year old Greyhound who was fostered by GPA’s Senior Sanctuary in Florida. While running in the yard with another foster she ran into a part of the metal fence that the yard guys left sticking out and ripped open her side and back. Cici made a full recovery.

The Story of William & Chester

"In June 2005 William L. Inman II fulfilled his dream of serving his country by enlisting in the US Army Light Infantry. As part of Operation Enduring Freedom he took part in three tours in the Zabul Province of Afghanistan in 2007-2009. Throughout his deployment he was exposed to numerous blasts that ranged from IEDs, RPGs, rockets and mortars that left him with a traumatic brain injury. He also suffered a severe injury to his lower back and began showing major symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Once he began treatment for his injuries he was moved to a Warrior Transition Unit and was ultimately discharged and retired from the US Army in June of 2012. He is now continuing treatment at Bay Pines VA Hospital.

William joined the H4H program Sept 29th, 2012 and immediately began training with Chester, who was just completing his service dog training. From the beginning, William was devoted to Chester and came reliably to our 4 day/week classes for two months. He studied hard and learned how to maintain and continue Chester’s training. the two of them have developed a wonderful working partnership and friendship. They are a perfect match for each other, and it’s awe inspiring to see William relax and light up every time he comes near Chester. Returning to civilian life is unimaginably hard with PTSD, traumatic brain injury and severe physical pain. Each day is a new battle just to make it through, and having Chester by his side will make a world of difference.

Thanks to a few generous donations, Chester was able to move in with William and his family on November 26th. Like many veterans returning from war, he is experiencing lag time in getting the financial support from government programs he qualifies for, and he still needs help from the community to make ends meet until he can get his benefits organized and coming in as they should. It is his wish that the William and Chester Fund be ongoing when he no longer needs this assistance to provide for Chester, to support fellow veterans in similar circumstances following behind him. William is one of our country’s heroes, and we are so proud to be able to provide Chester to assist him as he re-enters civilian life with many challenges ahead."

White Lies aka Liza is a young female retired racer who suffered a compound fracture of her front leg while racing. As she was a kennel favorite, her trainer reached out to Carol Becker of God’s Greyts to save her. Carol reached out to Kindred Spirits and, through a donation from the Pat Steer Memorial Fund, Liza got the surgery she needed to repair the damage to her shattered leg. Once she was well enough to travel, Liza traveled to upstate NY where she was placed in her forever home.

Miller is a yellow lab who picture came across Co-Executive Director of KSDA Cindy Ciddon's Facebook page during the summer of 2013. She couldn’t get his defeated hopeless look out of her head and thanks to a lot of people pledging to help, we rushed to SC and brought him home before the shelter could euthanize him. Miller was suffering from several severe, but treatable, chronic conditions and allergies. One year later many of his chronic conditions are under control and he is a happy much valued family pet. We are still struggling with the allergy issues but hope that future treatments can bring those under control as well and further improve his quality of life.