Ashley Villalobos. Local Resource Fair Highlights Service Dogs and Disability Support. The Desert Review, October 2025. Access Article on The Desert Review
Alt text: Austin Morales and his service dog Pacifica during his presentation at the Service Dog Awareness Resource Fair.
EL CENTRO — The El Centro Library hosted a Service Dog Awareness Resource Fair on Tuesday, Sept. 30, organized by Access to Independence. The event ran from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and featured presentations and community resource tables focused on the importance of service animals and disability support programs.
Daniel Flores, who led the program, introduced the Access to Independence mission and services, which include helping individuals transition from hospitals or assisted-living facilities back into their homes, providing youth with job and college readiness resources, and offering a driving simulator to help teens prepare for their licenses.
The event featured three presentations, including one by Austin Morales, who shared his journey of living with autism and how his service dog, Pacifica, changed his life. Diagnosed at around age three, Morales recalled the challenges he faced learning to communicate and navigate social situations. At times, his frustration led to dangerous behaviors, such as running into the street or hurting himself.
He recalled an incident when his struggles led him to throw and break a television in his home and explained how such episodes created fear and hardship for his family.
Those struggles began to ease when Pacifica entered his life. Morales explained that Pacifica not only gave him comfort during emotional meltdowns but also kept him physically safe.
“When I would start to run off, she was attached to me and would sit down, keeping me from running into danger,” he said.
During difficult moments, Pacifica would climb onto his lap or sit close to calm him.
With Pacifica’s support, Morales has been able to grow more confident, make friends, and share his story with others.
The event also featured a presentation led by Chris, founder of the Imperial County K-9 Institute, who has spent more than a decade training dogs for law enforcement and service roles worldwide. His experience includes preparing dogs for the Calexico Police Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, anti-poaching units in Africa, bomb detection in Afghanistan, and patrol dogs for Ukraine’s Legion Against Terror.
He explained the distinctions between service dogs, therapy dogs and emotional support animals, noting that only service dogs are recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA.
“A service dog is not a pet; it’s medical equipment,” he told attendees. “They are trained to mitigate a specific disability, whether it’s grounding someone with PTSD, guiding a person who is blind, or alerting a diabetic when blood sugar drops.”
Chris also emphasized the legal protections service dogs receive, highlighting that businesses, schools or law enforcement officers are only permitted to ask two questions: whether the dog is trained to mitigate a disability and what tasks it performs.
“There is no certificate, no license, no registration,” he stressed. “If someone tries to push further, they’re venturing into federal lawsuit territory because in doing so, we would have to explain our medical history to a complete stranger, and nobody wants to do that.”
He warned against the growing misuse of “emotional support” certifications purchased online, which often allow untrained pets into non-pet-friendly spaces and distract working service dogs. Such distractions, he explained, could prevent a trained dog from recognizing a critical health alert for its handler.
Training service dogs, Chris noted, can be a long and costly process. On average, it takes two to five years and can cost between $20,000 and $40,000. However, nonprofits like Self-Determined Valley and organizations such as Canine Companions work to offset those expenses for families in need.
At the end of the presentations, attendees could visit information booths from organizations including Self-Determined Valley, Volunteers of America and the Migrant Head Start Program, where they could ask questions and connect with local resources.
Local Resource Fair Highlights Service Dogs and Disability Support
