Bellmore teen John Paul Amato gets service dog thanks to nonprofits that help police officers

Within 15 minutes of meeting Sunny, 16-year-old John Paul Amato and his family were giving her belly rubs as she rolled around in the grass.

“Hey!” the Bellmore teen said when his widened eyes set upon his new service dog, a 10-month-old yellow Labrador retriever, for the first time at Bellmore’s Newbridge Road Park on Thursday afternoon as a few dozen relatives and friends applauded. “Hey, girlie, you’re my dog now.”

Daily life hasn’t been the same for Amato and his family since his service animal of nearly eight years, Perky, died in January. Just like his older brother, Amato has autism as well as Fragile X syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes intellectual disabilities, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NYPD Officer Dominick Amato, John Paul’s father, said his younger son needs a service dog due to his “extreme anxiety.” Without one, he said John Paul cannot go to a crowded airport for a family trip or even visit a shopping mall.

“He really was in need of a buddy,” Anna Marie Amato, John Paul’s nonna, said after tearfully watching her grandson meet Sunny. “After he lost his Perky, he’s been a little — well, a lot — different, more quiet.”

After learning about their struggle, several current and former New York and Massachusetts police officers stepped up.

Austin Glickman, an NYPD detective who founded Law Enforcement Officers Weekend, a nonprofit that helps law enforcement families across the nation, learned of the Amatos’ situation through social media. He reached out to Billy Cushing, who founded the K9 Kitt Foundation in Braintree, Massachusetts, after he was wounded by gunfire and his K-9 partner, Kitt, was fatally shot. The two nonprofits covered the $7,000 necessary for Professional Canine Services, a Middleborough, Massachusetts-based business started by two retired K-9 officers, to train and transport Sunny who they got  from a Massachusetts kennel. 

“I always think that we’ve done it all until the next adventure shows up,” Glickman said after Sunny met the younger Amato. “We’re able to come together as law enforcement officers ... and support each other in any way possible.”

Dominick Amato said the officers who banded together “went above and beyond” to help his son.

“We do a thankless job sometimes,” he said. “It’s good to know that there are people out there that do care.”

In just 10 days, Sunny learned the essentials to become a service dog, trainer Charles Young of Professional Canine Services said. Now, she must get to know Amato and recognize when he needs her comfort.

“John Paul and the dog will work hand in hand, so this dog will actually be able to ground him,” Young said. “Basically, the dog’s training is now going to be with him.” 

Sunny will brighten John Paul’s days when “his anxiety restricts him from entering certain environments or certain situations,” his father said.

“I know that the confidence that the dog gives him helps him to overpower that, or it distracts him from what he’s actually entering into,” he said. “I’m looking forward to planning our next trip, and God willing everything goes well.”