Though I'm really not a big (personal) fan of social media, I do rely on it for news bites. And I saw something shocking on Facebook yesterday. Canines with a Cause posted a link to an article about service dog benefits no longer being allowed by the US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA).
What?!
You read that correctly. If you are a veteran with vision, hearing or mobility related injuries, you may receive service-dog benefits. However, veterans who only suffer with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) or another mental health disability, will not qualify.
The VA justified its decision by saying that they'd not been able to determine that service dogs provide medical benefit to veterans with mental illness. They also cited nationally established and widely accepted training protocols for sight, hearing and mobility assistance dogs and the lack of similar training protocols for mental health service dogs.
According to an article written by Christine Stapleton of The Palm Beach Post:
Canines With a Cause is a non-profit organization that helps shelter dogs find homes by training them to work as companion, therapy and service dogs for veterans in need. According to them, a Pentagon study found that one in four veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD, depression or anxiety.
What?!
You read that correctly. If you are a veteran with vision, hearing or mobility related injuries, you may receive service-dog benefits. However, veterans who only suffer with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) or another mental health disability, will not qualify.
The VA justified its decision by saying that they'd not been able to determine that service dogs provide medical benefit to veterans with mental illness. They also cited nationally established and widely accepted training protocols for sight, hearing and mobility assistance dogs and the lack of similar training protocols for mental health service dogs.
According to an article written by Christine Stapleton of The Palm Beach Post:
�Veterans with service dogs were baffled by the rule.
�You get doctors and people telling you that you�re not disabled enough,� said Jim Stanek, an infantryman in the U.S. Army who served three tours of combat duty in Iraq. Stanek, who has been diagnosed with PTSD and traumatic brain injury, helped found Paws and Stripes, a non-profit group in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that provides service dogs and training to veterans with PTSD and mental health disabilities.
�What do I have to do? Have my leg amputated?� Stanek asked. �Is that what I need to do to get what I need to recover?
"Service dogs are individually trained to perform tasks for a specific person. Some of the tasks performed to assist veterans with PTSD include surveying darkened rooms, turning on lights, re-orienting their owner during nightmares or flashbacks, navigating through crowds, sensing anxiety, enforcing boundaries for personal space and retrieving a cellphone, said Sally Chester, secretary of Genesis Assistance Dogs Inc. of West Palm Beach.�You can read the final draft of rules concerning veterans in need of service dogs here.
Canines With a Cause is a non-profit organization that helps shelter dogs find homes by training them to work as companion, therapy and service dogs for veterans in need. According to them, a Pentagon study found that one in four veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD, depression or anxiety.
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