LIGONIER — The Cruz family of Ligonier hopes to bring home a furry addition to their family, but not as a pet.

The Torres’s 3-year-old son, Santana Cruz Torres, was recently diagnosed with autism and the family is raising funds to bring home an autism assistance dog through 4 Paws For Ability, an Ohio-based, nonprofit organization that places service dogs with children who have a variety of needs.

Saray Torres describes Santana as a happy 3-year-old who smiles, giggles and plays with his sister. However, Santana’s world can be a frustrating place for him. He does not like anything around his head, ears and mouth, making doctor appointments difficult. He also does not like having his hand held, which can be a problem because Santana likes to wander off. The Torres family also has to put extra locks on their doors to make sure Santana does not sneak out unnoticed and end up in danger.

“This dog is going to be trained for search and rescue,” Saray said. “He’s going to have Santana’s smell, so if Santana were to wander off, the dog would be able to come to us as his parents. He will start barking and take us to where Santana is.”

The dog will also serve as a therapy animal.

“It will be able to stop him if he starts hitting himself,” Saray said. “The dog will intervene. They can run their hands through the fur and it will calm his sensory needs and put the pressure on his hands and his arms and tell his brain he needs to calm down.”

4 Paws For Ability dogs are chosen and trained on a case-by-case basis. When the time is right, the Torres family will travel to Ohio, where they will spend two weeks getting to know Santana’s service dog. Prior to that, they will send clothing and personal items belonging to Santana so the dog can learn his scent.

Saray and her husband, Cruz, hope that having a service dog will ease both of their minds that Santana is safe, even when they cannot both be around. Both parents work while Santana spends eight hours a day, five days a week in therapy in Fort Wayne, an hour away.

All of this is on top of caring for their two other children, Santana’s sisters, Alessandra and Juliana.

Besides autism dogs, 4 Paws For Ability also trains guide dogs, hearing-ear, mobility, diabetic alert, seizure alert, FASD and multipurpose assistance dogs. 4 Paws also trains assistance dogs for veterans.

The Torres family also needs to raise $14,000 to help cover the $22,000 expenses of their dog’s training and care. Donors can help through the 4 Paws website or through Razoo.com.

For more information about 4 Paws For Ability, click here.