Veteran Assistance Dog Bill created by K9 Ponte Vedra for warriors


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A federal bill that finally makes service dogs an accepted part of the US Department of Veterans Affairs-approved therapy for military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder is now law.

Signed by President Joe Biden, the bill implements a new policy on assistance dog therapy for veterans, exactly what Ponte Vedra Beach-based K9s for Warriors has been pushing in recent years for them. help them better manage their lives despite PTSD and other post-bouts. trauma.

K9s for Warriors CEO Rory Diamond began working on it five years ago with local members of Congress, finding facts to support the need that ultimately made it go away. Now the VA is to open a Veteran’s PTSD Assistance Dog Referral Program to help organizations like K9s for Warriors.

“There is no money attached, so it won’t solve our financial problems, but it does allow for a pilot project on the collaboration,” said Diamond. “It will be more like an organization like K9s for Warriors working with the VA and finding a way to use current VA resources to put more dogs in the hands of more warriors. work with them on how they will help organizations like us.

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The National Center for PTSD reports that soldiers who have been on missions that exposed them to “horrific and potentially fatal experiences” can result in PTSD. He says 11-20 in every 100 Veterans who fought in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom suffer from PTSD in any given year.

About 12 in every 100 Gulf War and Desert Storm veterans suffer from PTSD in any given year. And about 30 out of every 100 Vietnam War veterans have had it in their lifetime, according to a National Vietnam Veteran Readjustment Study in the late 1980s.

The nonprofit K9s for Warriors pairs veterans with dogs who can help ease their symptoms and restore their confidence and independence. He formed around 700 Warrior / K9 teams after rescuing around 1,300 dogs, many in high-mortality rescue shelters.

K9s for Warriors CEO Rory Diamond unveils the association's new logo on the occasion of its 10th anniversary.

Resilient efforts to get there

Diamond said he started working on the first draft of the Veterans Injured-Assisted Puppy Therapy Act – called PAWS – with then-rep Ron DeSantis, but was on point. died in Congress. A second version presented the following year went further, and then Diamond said he worked with Rep. John Rutherford on a third version. The fourth attempt, sponsored by Rep. Steve Stivers, “was the one that worked,” Diamond said. It was signed by the president on August 25.

The PAWS bill specifically requires the VA to implement a five-year pilot program to “provide canine training to eligible veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder” as part of a comprehensive health program. The bill requires that the pilot program be implemented by no less than five VA medical centers in geographically diverse areas.

Eligible veterans are those enrolled in the VA health care system who have been recommended for participation by a mental health care provider or clinical team, Bill states. Next, the VA must work with accredited non-government groups like K9s for Warriors that provide dog training.

“Veterans who participate in the program are allowed to adopt the dog they helped train if their health care provider determines it is in the best interests of the veteran,” the bill’s summary reads. . “The VA should establish processes to document and track the progress of participating veterans with respect to health benefits and improvements.”

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The sad part is that a lot of people probably thought that the VA once helped a disabled military veteran pair up with a service dog. But the federal agency has never done so, until now, Diamond said.

“The VA has fought year after year. In fact, they won’t even recognize that a service dog will help a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder,” he said. “So K9 for Warriors has teamed up with The Lost University and created a stack of peer-reviewed, published, and prestigious journals that show that dogs work, that they drastically change the lives of warriors, and that they forwarded it to the VA. “

A study by researchers Marguerite O’Haire and Kerri Rodriguez shows that psychiatric assistance dogs are a complementary treatment for military veterans with PTSD.

“The addition of trained assistance dogs to usual care may confer clinically meaningful improvements in PTSD symptomatology for service members and veterans with PTSD, although it does not appear to be associated with loss of diagnosis,” indicates its conclusion.

He is one of the dogs in training in his kennel at the K9s for Warriors campus in Nocatee in 2020.

That the beginning

The Congressional Budget Office expects the federal pilot program to cost the VA $ 30 million over its five-year period. The national success of the program will be monitored by the Government Accountability Office and the United States Congress.

Diamond said the pilot program is an “important first step” in the VA’s recognition that service dogs can help a veteran. He hopes it becomes permanent and plans to work on another PAWS funded act.

“We will continue to push and open this door more and more until the VA becomes a full partner in this area,” said Diamond. “By then, organizations like ours will be funded by the private sector and we just won’t be able to serve the number of veterans we need.”

K9s for Warriors had primarily assisted veterans of more recent military operations in the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan. But when studies showed suicide disproportionately affected older veterans who had previously not been eligible for K9s for Warriors services, the 10-year-old organization began working to provide canine companions for the Vietnam War veterans.

K9s for Warriors headquarters are located at 114 Camp K9 Road in Ponte Vedra Beach, with a new “mega-kennel” slated for opening in Spring 2023 on US 1 which is expected to be able to double the number of dog training sessions. rescued with veterans, Diamond said. It also operates a Gold Family Campus in Alachua and a Petco Love K9 Center in San Antonio.

[email protected], (904) 359-4549

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