American Humane, the country’s first national humane organization, is honoring those who have served in the U.S. military and encourages all Americans to give thanks for the nation’s troops on this Veterans Day. To date, American Humane Pups4PatriotsTM has provided 207 life-saving service dogs to U.S. veterans in need of support through its Pups4Patriots Program supported by Coleman Natural Foods.
For many brave members of our nation’s armed forces, coming home as a civilian is only the beginning of another daunting battle. The invisible wounds of war, including Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), can cause debilitating symptoms in veterans, leading to depression, social isolation, and far too often, suicide.
“For more than a century, American Humane has worked alongside and supported the U.S. Armed Forces,” said American Humane President and CEO Dr. Robin R. Ganzert. “Now more than ever, America’s veterans need support as they heal from the invisible wounds of war and service to our country.”
Research shows that specially trained PTS service dogs can reduce stress and anxiety levels, mitigate depression, ease social reintegration, provide comfort and restore confidence in affected veterans. However, there are many obstacles standing in the way of veterans in need of service dogs: waiting lists are long and the process is expensive, with intensive training costing upwards of $30,000 per service dog.
“At Coleman, we take our ability to help those who defend us and our freedom in a personal way,” said Mel Coleman, Co-Founder Coleman Natural Foods and Vice President, Perdue Premium Meat Company. “We are honored to support American Humane’s Pups4Patriots program to help train and provide service dogs to the men and women who valiantly serve our country. Since 2019, we have been able to help support the training of more than 30 service dog teams and look forward to helping many more successful pairings.”
American Humane is committed to harnessing the healing power of the human-animal bond to put more healing leashes into the hands of more veterans in need. Through Pups4Patriots, American Humane finds dogs in search of forever homes and trains them to be lifesaving service dogs. For more information on Pups4Patriots, go to https://www.americanhumane.org/initiative/pts-service-dogs-for-veterans/.
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