Puppy Truck Accident

Here is the email that Guide Dogs Sent out about the accident. Keep them in your thoughts!

As some of you may already know, last Friday afternoon one of our puppy trucks was involved in a serious automobile accident. This accident was the fault of another driver who lost control of his vehicle and hit the puppy truck. Denny Epperson, who was driving at the time, did an excellent job in keeping the puppy truck upright and minimizing the accident as much as possible.

Sadly, one of the five adult dogs traveling was killed during the accident. She was a retired guide who was returning to her puppy raisers for adoption. The four other adult dogs, including Denny's active puppy that he is currently raising, and the 18 puppies aboard were not seriously injured.

The driver's side of the truck took the direct impact, and Denny was taken to UC Davis for treatment. His injuries are serious, but not considered life-threatening. He is scheduled for surgery today, to mend his pelvis and leg. The doctors expect a full recovery. Lee Shenk was the passenger and was not seriously injured. Lee remained calm and took care of the dogs until they were transported by staff back to campus Friday evening.

We are deeply saddened by the loss of the retired guide. And we are deeply grateful to Denny and Lee, who performed amazingly well in a frightening and emotional situation, and who are continuing to conduct themselves with strength and courage. We have spent the weekend ensuring that all of our constituents who had an adult dog on the truck were informed, and that Denny's family had the opportunity to travel to his location.

We also want to acknowledge all of the staff from many different departments who worked together on Friday and made sure that all of the necessary phone calls were made, the dogs and Lee were transported back to campus and taken care of and who supported them and each other.

Please send any cards or correspondence to:
Guide Dogs for the Blind Attn: Puppy Raising
PO Box 151200
San Rafael, CA 94915-1200