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Lowes hires man and his service dog when no one else would

Posted at 1:15 PM, Jun 09, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-09 13:29:48-04

There is no denying the power of honorable deeds and photos of cute dogs in restoring our faith in humanity.

Owen Lima and his service dog, Blue, are the newest recruits at a Lowe’s home improvement store in Canada.

Lima suffers from a brain injury that requires him to have a service dog. Because of the injury, Lima can have a hard time understanding people when they speak too quickly. His canine sidekick helps calm him down and prevent anxiety attacks.

But it came with a problem: He had difficulty finding a job.

“It’s so hard to find a job where people can accept me for the way I am and the fact that I have a service dog with me,” Lima told the Lowe’s staff.

This didn’t seem to be an issue for store manager Paolo Gallo.

Gallo found a position that would fit the duo perfectly: greeting customers at the store-front as the new customer service associate.

The company posted a photo of Blue in his custom-made Lowe’s employee vest.

“We’re overwhelmed,” Gallo commented on the social media attention the photo received. “We never intended for this to happen. We listened to an individual and we took him on board like we would anyone else.”

The new North Regina Store in Saskatchewan has its grand opening Thursday.

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