Skip to content
Network For Animals Logo
Network For Animals Logo
  • How we take action
    • Cats In Crisis
    • Disaster Relief
    • Dogs In Distress
    • Equine Care & Rescue
    • Ukraine War
    • Worldwide Donkey Crisis
  • News
  • About
    • Meet Our Team
    • Financials
    • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • How we take action
    • Cats In Crisis
    • Disaster Relief
    • Dogs In Distress
    • Equine Care & Rescue
    • Ukraine War
    • Worldwide Donkey Crisis
  • News
  • About
    • Meet Our Team
    • Financials
    • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Donate
Donate now
  • How we take action
    • Cats In Crisis
    • Disaster Relief
    • Dogs In Distress
    • Equine Care & Rescue
    • Ukraine War
    • Worldwide Donkey Crisis
  • News
  • About
    • Meet Our Team
    • Financials
    • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Donate
Menu
  • How we take action
    • Cats In Crisis
    • Disaster Relief
    • Dogs In Distress
    • Equine Care & Rescue
    • Ukraine War
    • Worldwide Donkey Crisis
  • News
  • About
    • Meet Our Team
    • Financials
    • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Donate

Little Acts of Kindness: How You Helped South Africa’s First Seizure Response Service Dog Get Back On Her Feet!

  • December 5, 2021
  • News
Play Video

We often hear the saying “a dog is a human’s best friend” but in this case, Jewel is really her owner’s guardian angel.

Michael O’Donoghue, Jewel’s owner, suffers from Temporal Plus Epilepsy, causing him to have frequent life-threatening seizures – sometimes daily, with some seizures lasting as long as eight minutes. His life has always hung in the balance.

But since Michael adopted Jewel, South Africa’s first Seizure Response Service Dog, his life has changed completely. Not only is Jewel Michael’s soulmate, but she is also his guardian angel. Thanks to her training, this phenomenal dog is able to detect when Michael is about to have a seizure. During a seizure, she is able to use her weight and warmth to reduce his anxiety and stress levels, maneuver him into a recovery position, and even push a special emergency button, sending an alert for help.

When she is not on duty, Jewel is a typical three-year-old dog who adores humans and other animals and loves to play. She especially loves water!

Unfortunately, Jewel was diagnosed with Carpal Valgus Angular – a painful limb deformity caused by unequal growth between the two bones in her lower forelimb – and needed an expensive operation. If left untreated, it could have caused massive damage to Jewel’s other joints. Michael reached out to us for help, and help is exactly what we did.

Thanks to our supporters’ generosity, we were able to pay for Jewel’s surgery, and we are happy to report it was a success. After a recovery period, Jewel is back to her happy, tail-wagging self.

Network for Animals is proud to have played a part in Jewel’s recovery. It’s only because of your generous donations that we can make these little acts of kindness possible. You have truly changed Michael and Jewel’s lives forever and for that, they are so thankful, and so are we.

Please keep donating to Network for Animals, and know that your donations will always be used to improve the lives of our planet’s precious animals.

By supporting our work, you are reaching out with caring hands to stop animal abuse

Please donate now
Stay up to date

Stay up to date

Share link

Your Donations In ACTION: May 2023

In May, your support once again touched the lives of animals who have seldom known human kindness. Here are the animals your support helped in

27 May 2023

Daily Mail: Terminally Ill Woman, 44, Suffering with Kidney Failure and Lupus is Saved by her Pet Doberman after Dog Sniffs out a One-in-22million Matching Donor During Trip to the Beach

Article written by Tom Bedford Originally published by the Daily Mail (Tuesday, April 25, 2023) A pet Doberman dog sniffed out a ‘perfect’ kidney donor

16 May 2023

Bird Flu Kills Three Nebraskan Cats

The bird flu that began last year, and which has so far killed 5 million birds in Nebraska, has now been linked to the deaths

11 May 2023

Your Donations In ACTION: April 2023

Your support in April brought comfort, care, nourishment and love to animals who have no one else. Here are all the animals you helped this

30 April 2023

Help us fight cruelty to animals around the world

Click here to donate

Network for Animals

Network for Animals is a non-government, international animal welfare organization crusading for animals around the world.

© Network for Animals
Terms and conditions/ Privacy policy
Cookie policy

Campaigns

Cats In Crisis Disaster Relief Dogs In Distress Equine Care & Rescue Ukraine War Worldwide Donkey Crisis

Stay up to date

Receive our regular emails about our campaigns for animals around the world.

Sign up

Contact us

UK: +44 (0)20 8471 7666
USA: +1 727 599 8148
South Africa: 
+ 27 21 794 9149
+ 264 81 653186

info@networkforanimals.org

Facebook-f Twitter Youtube Instagram Linkedin
Subscribe

Sign up to our newsletter

Donate
This website uses cookies to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo

Lisa-Mari Spence

Leadership Gifts Officer

Lisa-Mari was raised in South Africa and joined the NFA team as the UK fundraiser after relocating to Greece. With a background in public relations and a passion for helping animals her role at NFA is a perfect match.

Alissa Ford

Director of Leadership Gifts, USA

Alissa is the Director of Leadership Gifts in the United States. She has a background in nonprofit fundraising and marketing, but believes all paths led her to Network for Animals, where she is able to combine her professional experience with her personal passion for animal welfare. Alissa lives in Boston, Massachusetts with her husband and her fur-baby Ollie, who is treated like the prince he thinks he is, since his human brother and sister are grown and now living on their own. Alissa loves speaking to our supporters who she truly considers a community of fellow animal lovers.