Giving therapy dogs a lift! Young man's simple design to have a big impact on those with special needs



GREENFIELD (WITI) -- A young man's simple design is expected to have a very big impact for people with special needs. In his quest to become an Eagle Scout, the Greenfield boy is giving therapy dogs a lift!

It's kind of amazing no one thought of it before. Maybe someone had the idea, but it's Brendan Cardenas who made it happen.

"You want it so bad for your children to do well," Mary Jo Cardenas said. "He raised over $360 just to build it and just putting it together with all the help of Troop 598."

On a mission to become an Eagle Scout, Brendan Cardenas designed and built a mobile therapy platform. The reason? Dogs and patients aren't always on the same level. Some patients can't reach down to the dogs.

Cardenas' platform brings the dogs much closer -- and it's on wheels!

Brendan Cardenas



"Take the dog and the ramp to meet up to 120 clients in a given day as opposed to having it be in lockdown in a certain spot," Anthony Arsiniega, manager of Curative Adult Day Services said.

From start to finish, the project has taken more than a year, but the payoff will be indefinite.

"We've been here not that long, and everyone is just happy with it. I'm just so glad I was the one able to supply, I don't know what to call it, and it's the first time anything like this has been done I guess," Brendan Cardenas said.

And it is likely not the last time Cardenas makes a big impact.



"Brendan is a great young man. I'm sure he has a bright future ahead of him. What he's done for us is hard to put into words," Arsiniega said.

Cardenas will submit the proper paperwork detailing his design and he'll hopefully find out within a few weeks if he will indeed become an Eagle Scout.