Growing demand for service dogs unleashes congressional effort to fund their training, placement wit

[rangerrebew]

Growing demand for service dogs unleashes congressional effort to fund their training, placement with disabled veterans

By LINDA F. HERSEY STARS AND STRIPES •
 
Hank Ford, a 54-year-old Army and Marine Corps veteran, was dozing one morning in February after his wife left for work, when his service dog, Tommy, started barking and pawing his chest to wake up — something he had never done before. Ford, a retired staff sergeant who served in the military for 20 years, said he got up thinking the Labrador retriever wanted to go outside.

But Tommy instead kept barking and jumping up to paw his chest. Ford said he felt dizzy and realized his heart was racing. He took his blood pressure, saw his “heart rate was out of control” and rushed to a local hospital. Doctors said he had atrial fibrillation, which causes the heart rhythm to spike, and was at imminent risk of a stroke.

Ford underwent an emergency procedure to shock his heart back to a normal rhythm and credits Tommy for alerting him to the life-threatening problem.

Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/veterans/2025-08-15/disabled-veterans-service-dogs-legislation-18774215.html
Source - Stars and Stripes

[rangerrebew]

Growing demand for service dogs unleashes congressional effort to fund their training, placement with disabled veterans

As it should be!