Main image via Twitter
Seeing people in personal protective equipment (PPE) has become the norm since Covid-19 took over the world last year.
But it looks like humans aren’t the only ones wearing PPE as one adorable golden retriever is showing off his protective suit!
Sampson the service dog is an adorable golden retriever that has been trained to assist his owner in a neuroscience laboratory.
He is the first-ever canine to be granted access into a laboratory at the University of Illinoise where his owner, Joey Ramp is currently studying for a PhD.
To assist his owner, the golden retriever has his own specially-fitted PPE that includes a lab coat, little dog boots and goggles that he wears while helping out with Joey’s lab work.
After suffering from traumatic head injuries during a horse-riding accident in 2006, Joey who is a neuroscientist, went back to studying to learn more about the human brain and its functions.
Sampson learnt how to wear the PPE so that he would be able to continue doing his job as a service dog and help Joey out around the laboratory.
“If I drop something in the lab, he’ll come to my side and I can use him as a brace to kneel down and pick up what I need,” Joey shared.
The service dog has also been trained to recognise and react to signs of his owner’s PTSD.
“I couldn’t possibly navigate academics or a neuroscience program without his assistance,” Joey said.
Joey has long been advocating for service dogs to be allowed into laboratories. For the past few years, she has been arguing that this restriction has barred “an entire population of students from entering lab work and ultimately the STEM field.”
For Sampson to enter the laboratory, he has to follow strict guidelines such as wearing the same PPE as his human colleagues and constantly being in his owner’s direct sight.
Besides learning how to wear PPE, the golden retriever also had to learn to lie on a rubber-backed matt for up to four hours and retrieve items on command.
While Sampson may look adorable in his little PPE, Joey doesn’t want his cuteness to distract from the seriousness of his job.
“I really want people to start understanding that service dogs have a very high level of training,” she said.
“People with disabilities do want to study science, and to look at people with disabilities and service dog handlers with a view of making things more accessible to them is really important, and it’s time,” she added.
We can’t get over Sampson in his adorable little PPE! Bonus points that he’s advocating for a serious matter too!
Have you ever seen other animals in PPE? Let us know!
Info via UNILAD
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