The Rocky Foundation pairs shelter dogs with mental health patients

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Inspired by Rocky the Bat Dog, a new nonprofit called The Rocky Foundation held its ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Fridays After Five event in King Commons Park.

Rocky the Bat Dog is well-known at the Johnson City Doughboys games. Rocky’s fans’ support has led to the establishment of The Rocky Foundation, which aims to provide homes to shelter dogs and improve the community’s mental health. A social media post on the canine’s official fan page said it hopes to help “dogs get jobs.”

Rocky’s owner, Meg Hackett, is the founder and president of The Rocky Foundation, who said the mission is to “bridge the gap between the overwhelming amount of dogs that we have in our shelters and the need for therapy dogs in our communities.”

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“So essentially, we’ve come up with a vetting program to bring dogs out of the shelters,” Hackett said. “The foundation will pay for their training. We’ll match them with an adopter, and then through our partners, place them within the community, whether that be with Ballad Health or ETSU or over at the VA and really just help people get involved in the community to enrich those lives around them, not only for those people, but to see their dogs doing what they love really creates a special bond.”

On Friday, the nonprofit sold t-shirts made by its partner, Boomtown and Co., and bracelets. All proceeds went to The Rocky Foundation.

Hackett said the foundation is “trying to get the word out there and tell people what [it] is doing,” and anybody interested in a partnership can contact her.

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