About Us

The world has lost a genuine hero – a loving, compassionate soul whose selfless service
touched the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of people. On Monday, January 22, 2007,
“Whisper,” the golden labrador, peacefully left her body after a long illness that she fought
bravely, with the support of her human companion Miranda Alcott.

For nearly a decade, Whisper performed double
duty as a certified Crisis Intervention Canine and a
Hearing Assistance dog. She helped Miranda—
who is hearing-impaired—to navigate the world, by
communicating important sounds like the
telephone, doorbell or fire alarm. As a certified
Crisis Intervention Team, Whisper and Miranda
volunteered at Ground Zero, Columbine and the
Los Alamos fires, working with the emergency
personnel who put their own mental, emotional
and physical health at risk. They usually traveled at
their own expense.

For 30 years, Miranda has maintained a private practice integrating her counseling experience,
intuitive abilities and life coaching skills. Miranda is a certified Crisis Counselor, and has a
Masters Degree in Spiritual Psychology. In 2005, Miranda was requested to serve in New
Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, but because Whisper had just been
diagnosed with an incurable illness, they could not serve. To continue her work, Miranda needs
to purchase a new, highly trained Hearing/Crisis dog.

Since Miranda is hearing impaired, one of Whisper’s jobs was to alert Miranda to sounds in
her environment. As a highly trained Hearing Assistance Dog, Whisper aided Miranda by
making physical contact with her to alert her to many sounds in her environment, including: her
special telephone, pager, microwave oven, fire alarm, doorbell and alarm clock and life saving
sounds such as sirens and fire alarms. Whenever someone called Miranda's name, Whisper
went to find Miranda and lead her to that person.

Whisper also assisted Miranda through her Masters Degree program at the University of Santa
Monica, where she was awarded a Certificate of Acknowledgement for volunteering.

Whisper and Miranda became certified members of the National Community Crisis
Response Team for the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) and later

As a crisis intervention team, Miranda and Whisper worked with some of the families from Columbine High School
served during the Los Alamos Fires in New Mexico, and worked on-site at Ground Zero in the aftermath of 9/11
providing psychological and spiritual support to victims and rescue workers.

Miranda's work with animals includes certification as a TTOUCH practitioner and certifications with the
American Red Cross in Emergency First Response as well as being an Instructor Teacher for Emergency
First Aid for Pets.