New legislation seeks to establish a VA program for service dogs
The PAWS Act would provide $10 million to a pilot program slated to providing therapy dogs to vets suffering from PTSD
March 22, 2016
https://www.military1.com/ptsd/article/1590910014-new-legislation-seeks-to-establish-a-va-program-for-service-dogsPhoto by Jill Swank/DVIDSHUB
M1 Staff
A new bill introduced to lawmakers on Wednesday would provide veterans with valuable services to aid in living with and healing mental and emotional wounds from military service.
The Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) Act would create a pilot program with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and provide funds designated to train, insure and place service dogs with veterans suffering from severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), would allocate $10 million for the program, with each service dog costing $27,000 to train and insure. In order for veterans to remain eligibile for the program, they must be seeing a VA primary care doctor or mental health professional every three months.
Former Marine Cpl. Cole Lyle told the Washington Free Beacon that his service dog, Kaya, helps him deal with life after six years in the service.
“I deployed out of Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, and served with ISAF forces in Helmand province,” he told the online paper. “The difficulties I had transitioning back into civilian life stemmed out of roughly the last two months of the deployment, when I was volunteering at an understaffed trauma hospital in my spare time on base. When I got home, I would have recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks.”
Kaya, however, was taught to reduce the severity of those attacks and be there for Lyle when a particularly bad one hit.
“Kaya is trained specifically to jump up in bed and wake me up from nightmares or to lick my hand or face to remind me to remain calm in the early stages of an anxiety attack, effectively neutralizing their ability to snowball,” he said.
However, the road to getting a service dog was not an easy one for Lyle.
“I looked into several nonprofits that provide these dogs to veterans, but on a nonprofit budget and a huge demand, wait times can be over a year and a half,” he said. “I had to purchase Kaya and her training on my own, which cost roughly $10,000. It’s because of this, and losing several veteran friends to suicide, that I sought to change the VA policy and have been working with congressman DeSantis’ office since then to craft responsible legislation to do just that.”
Rep. DeSantis agrees that service dogs are a valuable tool and something the VA should be funding.
“Thousands of our post-9/11 veterans carry the invisible burden of post-traumatic stress, and there is an overwhelming need to expand the available treatment options,” he said in a statement. “The VA should use every tool at their disposal to support and treat our veterans, including the specialized care offered by service dogs. The PAWS Act is a simple bill that could have a dramatic—and potentially life-saving—effect on the lives of many. As we face an epidemic of veteran suicides, we must make sure that all of our returning service members are honored and taken care of, no matter the wounds they bear.”
