Tag: PTSD

PAWS Act Becomes Law Not a Moment Too Soon

Just a few days before the war in Afghanistan finally came to an end this week, President Biden signed into law the PAWS Act, aka the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers for Veterans Therapy Act.  The timing couldn’t be better.

The PAWS Act requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to launch a $10 million, five-year-long dog training therapy program to provide service dogs to veterans suffering from PTSD. Amazingly, this will be the first time in U.S. history that the VA has paid for providing these important service animals to veterans.

“We commend the White House for supporting this bill as a critical step in combatting veteran suicide, and we’re confident in the path ahead for service dogs ultimately becoming a covered VA benefit to veterans with PTSD,” Rory Diamond, CEO of K9s For Warriors, said in a press release. K9s for Warriors is the country’s largest provider of trained service dogs to military veterans suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury and/or military sexual trauma.

It’s a tragic statistic that about 20 veterans die by suicide every single day. Nearly 90,000 veterans died by suicide between 2005 and 2018.

Could service dogs help prevent this? Veterans with PTSD who had been paired with service dogs had less suicidal ideation and greater symptom improvement than veterans paired with emotional support dogs, according to a 2021 VA study.

The dog training therapy program will begin on Jan. 1, 2022. Per the PAWS Act, the VA must provide the following:

  • Eligible veterans will be able to receive dog training instruction from nongovernmental accredited 501(c)(3) nonprofit service dog training organizations, such as K9s For Warriors.
  • Those veterans will be taught positive reinforcement dog training for skills that help their PTSD symptoms.
  • Best of all, when the training is completed, the veterans will have the opportunity to adopt the dogs they trained.

“In communicating with veterans and their healthcare providers, it’s more imperative than ever to embrace the lifesaving impact of a service dog and to raise awareness for this treatment option as a proven method for mitigating debilitating symptoms of PTSD and suicidal ideations,” Diamond said.

Here’s hoping the pilot PAWS Act training program will be a huge success. From now on, the VA should provide service dogs free of charge to any veterans who need them.

Photo: K9s for Warriors

Hero War Dogs to Be Honored for First Time in NYC Veterans Day Parade

For the first time ever, the 2014 America’s Parade in New York City — the largest Veterans Day event in the country — will have two floats honoring four-legged war heroes on Tuesday.

“This showcases that age-old human-dog bond at its best,” Ryan Hegg, deputy director of the United War Veterans Council, which produces the parade, told the New York Daily News.

Riding on one of the floats will be six military dogs and their handlers, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Along for the ride will be veteran/rapper/actor Ice-T and his wife, Coco.

“I served in the Army and know the life-saving heroism of these dogs,” Ice-T said in a press release. “It is time that we recognize both our human veterans who sacrificed so much and our four-legged veterans who save lives on the battlefield – and at home – every day.”

The float is being sponsored by the American Humane Association and a generous donation from Lois Pope, a singer and heiress to the National Enquirer.

The military dogs “are heroes,” Pope told the Daily News. “They save so many lives.”

The other new float will feature therapy dogs who are working with veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

That float is sponsored by the A&E Network, which is also premiering the new documentary series “Dogs of War” on Veterans Day. Each episode will focus on a veteran with PTSD going through the process of working with a therapy dog who has been rescued from a shelter.

“This series is full of raw, real and intensely emotional moments that don’t often get a spotlight in mainstream media,” David McKillop, the A&E Network’s general manager and executive vice president, said in a press release.

Hegg told the Daily News he hopes the two new America’s Parade floats will be “another way to get folks aware of military issues.”

The 2014 America’s Parade begins at 11 a.m. at Park Avenue and 26th Street. It will be broadcast live on FOX5 (WNYW) and streamed on myfoxny.com. A one-hour special about the parade will air Nov. 16 on these channels across the country.

“Dogs of War” premieres on the A&E Network at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Nov. 11, then moves to Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT starting Nov. 16.

Photos via Facebook and unitedwarveterans.org

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