The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Service dog nonprofit: PAWS will provide boost for veterans
“We lobbied hard for this act and certain wording within the bill that passed. This is a big deal for veterans suffering with mental health issues.”
Patricia Robert, Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities
For the people who depend on them, service dogs are a lifeline to the world. This is especially true for veterans, who say they have an incomparable bond with their canine companions, and through them find relief from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dale Picard, owner of Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities in Winchester, said new federal legislation could help his nonprofit organization replace some of its veteran clients’ dogs, who are aging out of the service program.
“It’s affecting us tremendously,” he said of the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers for Veterans Therapy Act, or
PAWS Act. “We were the first organization to place assistance dogs with veterans 10 years ago, and after a certain amount of time, we have to replace them. This will really help us and
those veterans to continue to have a dog with them.”
The U.S. Senate approved the legislation, H.R. 1448, on Aug. 5. The House had passed the bill in May, and it now awaits President Joe Biden’s signature, according to rollcall.com.
Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to use a five-year pilot program to assess the effectiveness of addressing post-deployment mental health and posttraumatic stress disorder through a method in which veterans train service dogs for veterans with disabilities, according to congress.gov. The act will provide the money a veteran needs to get his or her own dog.
“We lobbied hard for this act and certain wording within the bill that passed,” said Patricia Robert, a member of Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities. “This is a big deal for veterans suffering with mental health issues.”
According to rollcall.com, legislation directing the VA to offer service dogs to veterans more widely has been in the works since 2010, when former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., introduced a bill that directed the VA to do a three-year pilot study on the benefits and feasibility of using service dogs to treat PTSD.
“Now, more veterans can apply for service dogs, if the funding is available,” Picard said. “So the money will be a tremendous benefit to any veteran who wants a service dog.”
To date, ECAD has placed between 35 and 40 of its dogs with veterans, who receive training through the agency and graduate with their canine.
Picard said the demand for these kinds of dogs, which provide emotional support and can be trained to perform a wide variety of tasks for their owner, grows daily. “Not just for veterans, but for people with all kinds of disabilities,” he said.
The use of dogs in public places also is becoming much more accepted as veterans and other clients bring them home, Picard said.
“A lot of avenues are opening up for service dogs,” he said. “People don’t have to worry about whether they can bring them everywhere anymore.”
Companion dogs are another way for veterans to find relief from PTSD.
Didi Tulloch, a member of Pets for Vets, works with Ridgefield Operation for Animal Rescue, also known as ROAR, and finds shelter dogs suitable to be trained as companion dogs for veterans diagnosed with PTSD.
“We’re affiliated with ROAR, and we get some of our pets from them and reap the benefits of helping veterans, while finding homes for the dogs,” Tulloch said. “Our trainers go to the shelter and work with people to find out what they’re looking for.”
Companion animals would not fall under the PAWS Act for funding, but still perform a vital service to their caregivers, Tulloch said.
“We put the dogs in foster care for four to six weeks, because it takes a dog a few weeks, once they’re out of the shelter, to show their personalities. We can see what kind of behaviors we need to work on. We do our due diligence to be sure they’ll work for the person who’s adopting them,” Tulloch said.
Unlike an assistance, or service dog, companion animals don’t provide the same kind of services as ECAD’s. But they still are important, Tulloch said.
“Our veterans are 80 to 100 percent disabled, and we want to give them a dog that they truly, truly need,” she said. “They may not do what a service dog does, but they fill a tremendous need. Lots of dogs available for adoption want to work, and when they meet their person, sometimes there’s an immediate connection. Other times it takes months to make a match. It’s amazing how these companions can help.”