Paralyzed St. Tammany Deputy's Service Dog to Serve as Grand Marshall of Krewe Du Pooch

Deputy Mary Mayo’s former service dog, 🐾𝙒𝙄𝙇𝙇𝘼🐾, will be serving as Krewe Du Pooch  2024 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐋 which rolls Saturday on the Mandeville Lakefront at 12:00. 

She was born to serve… 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖 served her “1st mom”, 𝘿𝙚𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙮 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙤 of the STPSO, as a dedicated and gentle service dog. Deputy Mayo’s life was changed forever on June 13, 2007 when she was participating in a funeral procession for fellow fallen Deputy Hilary Mayo, when a violent storm swept across the area. A large pine tree fell onto the cruiser, instantly killing her fiancée, Sgt. Beau Raimer. The accident left Mary paralyzed from the chest down. Years following, Mary underwent years of physical therapy as her community rallied around her. 

By the grace of God, Willa came into Mary’s life and touched her world in a way she never knew she needed. Willa was a stray found in Washington Parish….𝙐𝙉𝙏𝙄𝙇 𝙎𝙃𝙀 𝙒𝙀𝙉𝙏 𝙏𝙊 𝙋𝙍𝙄𝙎𝙊𝙉🥴. I can explain🤣. “Doggone Express” is a local non-profit that trains shelter dogs to be service dogs. Willa was found by this organization in a shelter where she entered the “prison-dog” service program. Willa was then gifted to Mary and so their journey began. Willa did her job, and she did it well. She went 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙔𝙒𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀 with Mary. She was a perfect fit for Mary. Mary passed away in September 2023 as a result of her injuries she sustained 16 years earlier in the line of duty. 

Shortly after Mary passed and seeing Willa’s pics on social media, Melissa Seal of Metairie knew she needed to be Willa’s “new mom.” Melissa has been involved in rescue for 20+ years, and she wanted to provide Willa the retirement life she deserved. 

“𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳. 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦," Melissa said. 

Willa immediately bonded with Melissa’s St. Bernard, 𝙂𝙐𝙈𝘽𝙊. Sadly… Gumbo recently crossed the rainbow bridge 🌈, and Willa had to deal with another loss, but she continued to be resilient. Willa is honored to serve at the Grand Marshal and according to Mary’s mother, “𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀𝘿 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨." 💜💚💛