Leading the Pack: Our Support of Canine Service

At West, our focus is on improving health for patients worldwide. We have had a commitment to giving back to the communities in which we lived and worked in for over a century. In recognition of September focusing on service dogs, we thought it would be a great opportunity to highlight some of the volunteer work and sponsorships West provides to two organizations globally. Canine Partners for Life in the United States and Handichiens in France. Read more to understand the great work the organizations do and our connections with them.

Handichiens Charity in France

The Handi'chiens charity works to improve the lives of disabled people through the invaluable assistance of dogs. For several years, West has closely partnered with Handi'chiens, not only by providing financial support but also by organizing educational workshops on disability and the incredible help dogs can provide in daily life.

The dogs, as full-fledged partners, go beyond merely accompanying people with disabilities. They play an essential role in detecting crises related to certain diseases, acting as a real line of defense for their owners. The Handi'chiens association trains these animals to recognize these warning signs (such as epilepsy) and to have the ability to alert emergency services themselves. This rapid intervention can save lives, demonstrating the impact and importance of the work carried out by the association.

Training and raising these assistance dogs represent a substantial cost. This is why West's commitment plays a crucial role, allowing the association to continue its activities and expand its services to a larger number of people.

"Together, Handi'chiens and West enrich lives, highlighting the extraordinary impact that assistance dogs can have on a daily basis," explained Claire Riche, Manager, administration and communications in West's Le Nouvion site. "Each trained dog and each improved patient life testify to the importance of this alliance between West and Handi'chiens."

Canine Partners for Life in United States

For over 16 years, West has worked alongside Canine Partners for Life (CPL) in fundraising and volunteering. Outside of critical financial support, West has a culture that fosters volunteer engagement in the CPL community. Currently, there are 9 West team members who are actively volunteering with CPL with an additional 5, who are trained to handle puppies while on-site at West. Our team members cover roles including whelping, raising puppies, temporarily housing puppies and kennel dogs, providing 2nd year training homes, and even working as a board member! Collectively, West team members log thousands of volunteer hours every year in support of this amazing organization. We consistently have at least 1 puppy on-site almost every day and have had days where up to 5 dogs have been present.

"West Pharmaceutical Services has been one of our leading sponsors for 16 years! They have demonstrated their dedication to our mission through supporting our Spring Gala, Fall Festival, raising puppies, and beyond!" explained Kirstin M. Downie, Director of Development and Communications at CPL. "We are so thankful for the generosity of the staff and leadership at West and look forward to continuing this partnership for many years to come!"

Working dogs need to be always focused on their handler, giving them their undivided attention. Distracting a service dog can result in that dog missing an oncoming medical episode or cue from their handler, which can cause serious harm or injury to that individual. Since the dogs we handle are not fully trained, there are so many excellent training opportunities for them while they are on-site at West. For the smallest puppies, we have a busy and diverse environment that helps them acclimate to human interaction, noise, activity, and smells while also exposing them to elevators, stairs, mirrors, windows, and various surfaces. Our most important task as a puppy handler is to socialize with them and help them be comfortable in all kinds of situations. Puppies learn to nap during meetings and sit for pets from adoring employees and visitors.

West has slowly increased the number of trained volunteers over the years with our "most senior" volunteer starting in the summer of 2020. Over these past 5 years, collectively, West volunteers have been involved in supporting 174 dogs! Our team members have been the primary handler for raising 21 puppies. We have been responsible for 103 breeders/puppies during whelping. We have been temporary homes for 48 puppies/dogs. We have supported 2 dogs in their 2nd year training.

Probably the most common questions all of West volunteers get are, "don't you get attached to the puppies? How do you give them up?"

"The answer is inevitably, yes, we get attached! They are puppies! Amazing, sweet, cuddly puppies. This is followed by the answer to the second question, which is a recognition of just how amazing these dogs are and how we all had a hand in raising the dog to change someone else's life. When we hear the stories from the recipients on how the dog is going to support them and just how quickly the dog becomes a critical partner in his/her life, it hits home." Lindsay Reinhold, Sr Manager, Labs Services at West and dedicated CPL volunteer explained. "Logic kicks in when your puppy is moving on to the next stage. And, for me specifically, I just sign up to get another puppy! I know that all of our West-CPL volunteers embrace the community culture and look for ways to give back."

The West-CPL partnership provides so many levels of positive impact from our volunteer's lives to those of the West employees as they have exposure to and interact with the dogs to helping to educate the public about service dogs to the inmates in the puppy prison program and ultimately to the partnership between the dog and the recipient.

For more information on our culture of giving, click here.