Paws for Patriots
___________September's VFW magazine features a story on several programs providing assistance canines for vets ("Vets Show Dogged Determination"). The dogs help these veterans accomplish myriad tasks, from pulling their wheelchairs to picking up items and steadying amputees rising from chairs or negotiating stairs.
They also serve an ancillary function in helping their owners cope with the often debilitating effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
The worthy programs discussed in the article are The Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, supplying service dogs to vets since its establishment in 1946; Paws for Patriots program, sponsored by Palmetto, Fla.-based Southeastern Guide Dogs; VetDogs, a sister program to the Guide Dog Foundations formed in response to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; the Canines for Combat Veterans, under the aegis of the New England Assistance Dog Services (NEADS) and the East Coast Assistance Dogs (ECAD), a training facility for the Pet Assisted Learning Services (PALS) program.
In these nonprofit programs, the dogs are trained by various populations running the gamut from at-risk teens to penitentiary inmates. As example:
"Canines for Combat Veterans dovetails with another NEADS program Prison PUP Partnership. Inmates at various institutions in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island care for and teach prospective guide dogs for one year. This cooperative arrangement accelerates the training process, reduces costs and enhances self-esteem among prisoners."
One of the guide dog recipients, Michael Jernigan, of St. Petersburg, Fla., will be discussing his experience in an HBO documentary scheduled for broadcast September 9, "Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq."
In 2001, "the VA began reimbursing vets for certain guide dog-related expenses such as veterinarian's bills, travel costs during the initial training period and harnesses." But the coverage is not all-inclusive. If the government were to cover the actual expense of the provision of a guide dog, the tab would run from between $16,000-$40,000.
"Many service organizations. . . raise monies and donate them to guide dog organizations. But federal payouts would eliminate fundraising efforts, speed up the process and increase the number of canine-vet matches."So the not-so-good part of the story: The government gets by on the cheap once again, not anticipating the needs of all combat-injured veterans and relying on volunteer organizations to pick up the slack.
The other bookend, you know.
--Lisa
Labels: assistance dogs, canines for combat veterans, paws for patriots, vetdogs
posted by rangeragainstwar at 5:25 PM
8 Comments:
Thanks for the good parts....I need those to balance the daily shit storm news items.
I love this, proves to me that there are people working with vets that have real common sense. Same with the folks getting vets together with horses. Not only can animals bring a great deal of healing to a tortured soul, they can be darned handy for disabled people to have around. The fact that the animals can be trained by prisoners and kids at risk just makes the whole idea doubly beneficial. I think the world would be a better place if everybody spent some time every day getting into an animal's head - it's way better than running around in circles inside your own.
kootenay,
According to Rogerian thought, animals give us unconditional positive regard, with no strings attched.
As someone said, we give our minimum to the animals, and they give us their all.
Perhaps an adoption and training plan could be set up with local humane societies. The veteran would have a dog that is getting a second chance. Too many good dogs are euthanized that would love a caring owner.
I adopted my first SPCA pet last year, a pure chow chow, instead of going back to a breeder. Believe me, the dog "knows" they have another chance at it.
Buzz Meeks
Buzz,
Glad you got such a fine pet, and I couldn't agree with you more. The animals do know you're giving them a second chance, and never a finer pet shall you find.
The puppy mills, sadly for the animals, often spew out misfit animals--high strung, untrainable, feeble.
I like your idea of using the shelter animals for assistance dogs. In our area, they are doing just that in a prison partnership, which we also wrote about. However, the dogs are only being trained to become more attractive as companion dogs.
We feel strongly that the loss of so many fine animals every year is criminal. One can find any breed of dog at their local shelter. That the animal may have a mix of another breed only adds to his fitness. All are a joy.
Thank you for your article ... I am the Director of Pawsitive Perspectives Assistance Dogs, a small service dog organization which is developing plans to try to start a program focusing on veterans ... ideally veterans who are suffering from PTSD training these wonderful dogs for veterans with physical injuries ... a win-win situation! Unfortunately funding is limited -- a problem that all of the smaller organizations face -- so the program is not moving forward as quickly as we would like to see it go! If insurance companies, or the government, considered service dogs as "assistive devices" similar to wheelchairs, walkers, prosthetics, etc. and covered the costs then more programs would be able to provide more dogs to our country's heroes! (it is strange to compare dogs to "devices" but in the eyes of the insurance world it would be a good analogy)
kudos, Lindyball. Good, important work.
Why don't you pitch your idea to your local congress critters? If your rep. is as helpful as ours, he will direct you in the right way.
--Lisa
Lisa, Thank you so much -- that's a great idea! We are currently planning on relocating from Oregon to Minnesota (more opportunity to grow PawPADs!) and I have been overwhelmed at where to start .... contacting the local congress-people would definitely be a good start! There is just SO much opportunity to change lives with these programs!
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