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CONNECTING VETERANS WITH PTSD WITH 

SERVICE DOGS 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT 

AND GOVERNMENT REFORM 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

APRIL 14, 2016 

Serial No. 114–118 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov 

http://www.house.gov/reform 


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COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM 

JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah, Chairman 

JOHN L. MICA, Florida 

MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio 

JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee 

JIM JORDAN, Ohio 

TIM WALBERG, Michigan 

JUSTIN AMASH, Michigan 

PAUL A. GOSAR, Arizona 

SCOTT DESJARLAIS, Tennessee 

TREY GOWDY, South Carolina 

BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas 

CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming 

THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

MICK MULVANEY, South Carolina 

KEN BUCK, Colorado 

MARK WALKER, North Carolina 

ROD BLUM, Iowa 

JODY B. HICE, Georgia 

STEVE RUSSELL, Oklahoma 

EARL L. ‘‘BUDDY’’ CARTER, Georgia 

GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin 

WILL HURD, Texas 

GARY J. PALMER, Alabama 

ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland, Ranking 

Minority Member 

CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York 

ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of 

Columbia 

WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri 

STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts 

JIM COOPER, Tennessee 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

MATT CARTWRIGHT, Pennsylvania 

TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois 

ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois 

BRENDA L. LAWRENCE, Michigan 

TED LIEU, California 

BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN, New Jersey 

STACEY E. PLASKETT, Virgin Islands 

MARK DESAULNIER, California 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania 

PETER WELCH, Vermont 

MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM, New Mexico 

JENNIFER HEMINGWAY, Staff Director 

DAVID RAPALLO, Minority Staff Director 

ART ARTHUR, Staff Director, Subcommittee on National Security 

MIKE HOWELL, Counsel 

WILLIE MARX, Clerk 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY

RON DESANTIS, Florida, Chairman 

JOHN L. MICA, Florida 

JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee 

JODY B. HICE, Georgia 

STEVE RUSSELL, Oklahoma, Vice Chair 

WILL HURD, Texas 

STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts, 

Ranking Member 

ROBIN KELLY, Illinois 

BRENDA L. LAWRENCE, Michigan 

TED LIEU, California 


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C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hearing held on April 14, 2016 .............................................................................. 1 

WITNESSES 

Mr. Michael Fallon, Chief Veterinary Medical Officer, Office of Research 

and Development, Department of Veterans Affairs, Accompanied by Patricia 

Dorn, Director, Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, and 

Chris Crowe, Senior Mental Health Consultant and Liaison, DOD Defense 

Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and TBI 

Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 6 

Written Statement ............................................................................................ 8 

Mr. Rory Diamond, Executive Director, K9s for Warriors 

Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 14 

Written Statement ............................................................................................ 16 

Mr. Cole Lyle, Veteran with PTSD 

Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 27 

Written Statement ............................................................................................ 29 

Mr. Steve Feldman, Executive Director, Human-Animal Bond Research Initiative Foundation 

Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 31 

Written Statement ............................................................................................ 34 

APPENDIX 

H.R. 4764 (114th Congress 2nd Session) Bill Text, Entered by Representative 

Stephen Lynch ...................................................................................................... 56 

H.R. 2493 (114th Congress 1st Session) Bill Text, Entered by Representative 

Stephen Lynch ...................................................................................................... 62 

Letter submitted by Paul E. Mundell, CEO, Canine Companions for Independence, Entered by Representative Stephen Lynch ...................................... 67 


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CONNECTING VETERANS WITH PTSD WITH 

SERVICE DOGS 

Thursday, April 14, 2016 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, D.C. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:00 p.m., in Room 

2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ron DeSantis [chairman of the subcommittee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives DeSantis, Mica, Hice, Russell, Hurd, 

and Lynch. 

Mr. DESANTIS. The Subcommittee on National Security will come 

to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time. 

Veteran suicides continue to be a national epidemic. Veterans are 

estimated to have a suicide rate that is 50 percent higher than 

those who did not serve in the military. A major driver of suicide 

rates is the incident of posttraumatic stress among our veterans. 

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, between 11 and 

20 percent of those who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and/or 

Enduring Freedom suffer from PTS. Other estimates range as high 

as 29 percent. 

Veterans with PTS may be troubled by intrusive thoughts; avoid 

people, places, and things; and experience hyperawareness and 

nightmares. They may find they are no longer able to trust and 

love those closest to them. Some may even feel that life is no longer 

worth living. 

Unfortunately, many veterans have met significant problems in 

receiving the health care they deserve. The issues regarding the inadequate treatment of veterans by the VA have been widely reported. These include long wait times and the overprescription of 

dangerous opiates. Identifying and utilizing the full range of effective treatments for veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress is 

something that the VA must do without delay. 

One treatment that complements existing therapies is the connection of veterans with PTS with service dogs. These are not comfort dogs or therapy dogs, as useful as those might be. Service dogs 

perform valuable services for veterans, calming them during a 

panic attack, turning on lights in a dark home, waking them from 

nightmares. 

Currently, the VA only provides service dogs to veterans with 

physical impairments. However, a 2010 VA inspector general report stated that the VA ‘‘faces challenges implementing the guide 


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and service dog program. The VA only started assisting mobility 

and hearing-impaired veterans with service dogs in 2008, 6 years 

after being authorized to do so. The VA personnel told us the actual demand for service dogs is unknown.’’ With tens of thousands 

of veterans returning with mobility and hearing impairment from 

wars due to the use of improvised explosive devices and other 

things, this 6-year delay represents a stunning bureaucratic failure. 

The VA contends that there is insufficient evidence that service 

dogs help those with PTS. However, ample scientific findings and 

ongoing research suggest that the VA may very well be wrong. 

Service dogs are not intended to, nor do they cure PTS, but they 

provide a safe, non-addictive tool for veterans to live normal, functioning, productive lives and they could provide a safe complement 

to existing treatments for PTS. The urgency of the veteran suicide 

rate demands that we explore this option. 

In the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress authorized the VA to conduct a 3-year study on the efficacy of pairing 

veterans with PTS with service dogs. Instead of being completed in 

2013, the VA study is not expected to be completed until 2019. According to the VA, the study has undergone ‘‘multiple significant 

and unexpected challenges.’’ The first phase of the study, referred 

to as phase 1, began in 2011 and had to be suspended and restarted twice, once after two dogs bit children and again after dog 

health issues arose. 

The VA attributed these problems to issues with vendors contracted to provide the service dogs. Many of the dogs provided by 

the vendor were of substandard quality and had hip dysplasia, a 

condition that could have been treated earlier if the vendor performed standard screening procedures. Of the 26 veterans that 

were enrolled in phase 1, only 12 completed the study and four 

more are expected to complete the study in February of 2017. 

The issues with phase 1 could have been avoided if the VA had 

properly screened the vendors and had reached out to other public 

and private sector organizations engaged in similar ventures, organizations like K9s for Warriors, with is based in the district I represent, do not experience these issues because of their experience 

in sourcing and training the dogs. 

Instead of conducting outreach, the VA insisted on developing its 

own veterinary standards for the study, but the Department of Defense already has its own military working dog standards. In fact, 

DOD is an internationally regarded trainer of dogs and has a team 

of over 55 personnel, including 14 veterinarians. Had the VA initially adopted DOD standards, the VA could have avoided the $10- 

$12 million failure of phase 1. 

While the VA eventually did reach out and adopt some DOD 

standards, it appears that development of its own standards was 

largely duplicative and wasteful. The VA began phase 2 of the 

study in December of 2014 with numerous changes based on lessons learned from phase 1. These changes included the VA hiring 

its own dog trainers to provide support to veterans throughout the 

study, incorporating DOD veterinary standards, and moving the 

study from one site in Tampa, Florida, to three separate sites in 

Atlanta, Georgia; Portland, Oregon; and Iowa City, Iowa. 


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Yet the VA is only meeting half of its monthly recruiting goal of 

12 veterans for this study, similar issues echoed in the 2010 VA IG 

report. This problem is not based on a shortage of interested veterans but instead on the VA’s problems filling dog trainer positions 

and the alleged complexity of the study. With the VA struggling to 

pair veterans with service dogs, other organizations are attempting 

to fill the void. In fact, the committee has spoken with various organizations that cumulatively claim to have hundreds of dogs that 

are trained and ready to be paired. 

Contrary to the VA’s assertion that ‘‘there is not enough research 

yet to know if dogs actually help treat posttraumatic stress and its 

symptoms,’’ there is ample anecdotal and scientific evidence that 

service dogs can help veterans with PTS. 

Today, we will hear from witnesses familiar with that evidence 

and from veteran Cole Lyle, who credits his service dog with markedly reducing his PTS symptoms. 

Veterans cannot wait until 2018 for the VA to introduce the lowcost, low-risk, and high-reward treatment option. The problem of 

veteran suicide is too urgent. For this reason, I have introduced the 

Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers Act of 2016, cosponsored by many of my fellow committee members, including members on both sides of the aisle. 

This legislation would create a program for veterans with the 

most severe levels of PTS who tried a VA-approved treatment and 

remain very symptomatic to then be referred to an accredited service dog organization. The VA would reimburse the organization 

supplying those service dogs, and all funds expended would be offset with funds from the VA Office of Human Resources and administration expenses for administrative offices, conference planning, 

historic preservation, office artwork, and facility interior decor. 

Those who risk their lives for this country deserve the absolute 

best care upon their return, and time is of the essence. 

I would like to thank our witnesses for their testimony today. We 

have veterans testifying and many joining us in the audience, and 

I want to thank them very much for their service. 

Mr. DESANTIS. And with that, I will recognize the ranking member of the Subcommittee on National Security, Mr. Lynch, for his 

opening statement. 

Mr. LYNCH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank you 

for holding this hearing to examine the efforts undertaken by the 

Department of Veterans Affairs to provide service dogs to veterans 

of the U.S. armed forces to assist with treatment for posttraumatic 

stress. 

I would also like to thank today’s panel of witnesses for helping 

the committee with its work and again thank all our veterans in 

attendance and active military. 

It is the mission of the Department of the VA to serve and honor 

the more than 21 million dedicated men and women who are America’s veterans in fulfillment of President Lincoln’s historic commitment to ‘‘care for those who shall have borne the battle and for 

their widows and orphans.’’ 

With the formal end of the U.S.-led combat mission in Iraq in 

2010 and in Afghanistan in 2014, the return of over 2.7 million veterans from extended service in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 


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Operation Enduring Freedom, and other war zone deployments, the 

fundamental duty of the VA to provide dignified care to America’s 

veterans and their families remains as critical as ever. In turn, our 

continued and bipartisan oversight of the VA is essential to ensuring that the agency is able to carry out its important mission. 

As most recently evidenced by the generation of post-9/11 veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, effective 

treatment for posttraumatic stress, also known as PTSD, is one urgent area of veterans’ health care that the VA and Congress must 

continue to strengthen. According to the VA’s National Center for 

Posttraumatic Stress, 20 percent of our veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom have PTS 

in a given year. 

The prevalence of posttraumatic stress among our Iraqi and Afghan veterans is primarily the result of multiple tours of duty and 

repeated, severe, and constant combat exposure. Moreover, the VA 

has reported that veterans with PTS are particularly vulnerable to 

the risk of suicide, which continues to affect veterans at a devastating rate. Last month, the VA under secretary for health David 

Shulkin, again estimated that every day approximately 22 veterans 

take their lives in this country, and that is tragic. 

Similarly, the Department of Defense reported last week that 

suicide rates for active duty service members remain high for the 

7th year in a row with 265 active duty service members lost to suicide in 2015. We are clearly failing to meet our obligations to our 

returning and active service members. 

The impact of posttraumatic stress in our veterans’ community 

is a complex and far-reaching issue that demands a comprehensive 

approach to treatment and rehabilitation. This includes robust 

funding for the VA to continue to expand its mental health services. And I was proud to join the chairman to support the bipartisan omnibus funding bill passed by Congress and signed by President Obama at the end of last year that would provide $50 billion 

for VA medical services and specifically targets mental health care 

and suicide prevention. 

We must also encourage the development of commonsense alternative solutions that could further assist veterans with PTS rehabilitation. One alternative is the topic of today’s hearing, providing 

service dogs to veterans with PTS to help alleviate their related 

symptoms. 

As noted in the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics 

in June of 2015, ‘‘Initial academic studies have revealed that veterans paired with service dogs report less severe PTS symptoms, 

stronger social relationships, decreased substance abuse, and other 

increased health benefits.’’ 

Pursuant to the Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2010, 

Congress itself mandated the VA to conduct a 3-year study, as 

noted by the chairman in his remarks. That study was to examine 

the benefits of using service dogs for the treatment of rehabilitation 

of veterans with physical or mental injuries, including PTS. 

Regrettably, as the chairman has noted, the VA encountered numerous challenges in getting this study off the ground, including 

inadequate oversight over its service dog vendors and inconsistent 

service dog training standards. As a result, again, as the chairman 


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has noted, the agency now expects to complete the study in November of 2018 or into 2019. 

I understand the VA is taking steps to address these problems. 

However, a delay for a study of this importance for this amount of 

time is simply unacceptable. And I look forward to examining the 

progress of this further study with our witnesses. 

And I also think that the chairman’s idea of going forward with 

a pilot program, which can be based on the evidence in hand today, 

is a great way to go at this problem. 

So I am proud to cosponsor two pieces of bipartisan legislation 

that have been introduced in Congress to facilitate the use of service dogs to assist our veterans. 

Chairman DeSantis, my colleague on this committee, has introduced H.R. 4764, a bill to require the VA to commence the service 

dog pilot program right away that is specific to post-9/11 veterans 

with severe PTS. And I am proud to join him on that. 

Also, Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts has also 

reintroduced legislation to establish a grant program to assist nonprofit organizations in developing and establishing service dog programs for veterans. And, Mr. Chairman, I would ask unanimous 

consent if I could please submit Mr. McGovern’s legislation for the 

record. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Without objection. 

Mr. LYNCH. And there is a supporting statement into the record 

as well. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Without objection. 

Mr. LYNCH. Thank you, sir. 

As evidence continues to show that service dogs are one way of 

helping veterans with PTS, I certainly support the expansion of 

these efforts. 

Mr. Chairman, thank you again for holding this important hearing, and I yield back the balance of my time. 

Mr. DESANTIS. I thank the gentleman. And thank you for the 

support for the efforts. 

I will hold the record open for 5 legislative days for any members 

who would like to submit a written statement. 

We will now recognize our panel of witnesses. I am pleased to 

welcome Dr. Michael Fallon, chief veterinary medical officer at the 

Office of Research and Development at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Mr. Rory Diamond, executive director of K9s for 

Warriors; Mr. Cole Lyle, a U.S. Marine veteran who has 

posttraumatic stress; and Mr. Steve Feldman, executive director of 

the Human-Animal Bond Research Initiative Foundation. Welcome 

to you all. 

Pursuant to committee rules, all witnesses will be sworn in before they testify. If you please rise and raise your right hands. 

[Witnesses sworn.] 

Mr. DESANTIS. Thank you. Please be seated. 

All witnesses answered in the affirmative. 

In order to allow time for discussion, please limit your testimony 

to 5 minutes. Your entire written statement will be made part of 

the record. 

Dr. Fallon, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 


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WITNESS STATEMENTS 

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL FALLON 

Mr. FALLON. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman DeSantis, 

Ranking Member Lynch, and members of the subcommittee. Thank 

you for the opportunity to update the committee on progress in the 

VA PTSD service dog study, which pairs veterans with PTS with 

service dogs. I am accompanied today to my right by Dr. Patricia 

Dorn, director of the Rehabilitation Research and Development 

Service; and Dr. Chris Crowe, senior mental health consultant and 

liaison to the DOD Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological 

Health and TBI. 

The 2010 National Defense Authorization Act directed VA to undertake a study to assess the benefits, feasibility, and advisability 

of using service dogs for the treatment or rehabilitation of veterans 

with physical or mental injuries or disabilities, including PTSD. 

The benefits of utilizing service dogs and guide dogs for physical 

disabilities are well established. Therefore, VA designed the study 

to focus on veterans with PTSD because PTSD is a high-priority 

health issue in veterans, and the benefits of service dogs in assisting people with PTSD are not established in the scientific literature. 

This is a groundbreaking study that aims to determine if veterans with PTSD would benefit from a service dog. For the study, 

VA hired its own dog trainers to provide obedience and handling 

support to veterans after they receive a dog, thus reducing experimental bias in the study. 

VA also developed its own contract health, behavior, and training 

standards for dogs. Three studies cites—Atlanta, Iowa City, and 

Portland, Oregon—are operating and enrolling veterans from different parts of the country. Approximately once a quarter for 21 

months, measures are taken of self-care, interpersonal interactions, 

and social participation, the severity of PTSD symptoms, sleep-related problems, suicidal ideation, the severity of mood disorders 

and substance abuse, anger directed at others, inpatient and outpatient visits, medication usage, and measures of employment and 

work productivity. 

Veteran enrollment in the multisite phase of this study began in 

December of 2014. As of this week, 109 of 220 veterans have been 

enrolled in the study, and all three study teams will be fully staffed 

to achieve an enrollment rate of 12 to 15 veterans per month, 

which would allow all 220 veterans to be enrolled by the end of this 

year or early 2017. Data collection will end in late 2018. The data 

will then be analyzed, and the results will be published in a peerreviewed scientific journal. 

While VA does not purchase service dogs for veterans, VA does 

provide veterinary care benefits to eligible veterans to managing 

visual, hearing, or substantial mobility impairment to enable the 

veteran to live independently. Currently, VA does not provide veterinary care benefits for PTSD or mental health dogs because research has not shown them to be effective in overcoming specific 

functional limitations. 

The carefully designed VA study is incredibly important in addressing shortcomings in the existing research literature that has 


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been reported by others. The VA continues to monitor other scientific literature for quality evidence to inform future policies and 

remains strongly committed to completing the current study at an 

estimated cost of at least $12 million. 

VA is strongly committed to the delivery of the best care for veterans with PTSD. Advances in research have led to a range of effective treatments that reduce symptoms and increase functioning 

and well-being. The VA/DOD evidence-based Clinical Practice 

Guideline recommends the following as first-line treatments: trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapies such as prolonged exposure, or PE; and cognitive processing therapy, or CPT; eye movement desensitization and reprocessing; stress inoculation; selective 

serotonin reuptake inhibitors; and venlafaxine, a serotonin 

norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. 

Research demonstrating the effectiveness of PE and CPT is particularly strong. VHA Handbook 1160.01, Uniform Mental Health 

Services in VA Medical Centers and Clinics, requires that all VA 

medical centers provide access to either PE or CPT. VA has supported this requirement by training upwards of 7,000 therapists in 

PE and CPT as part of a broader initiative to disseminate evidencebased psychotherapy for mental disorders. Uptake of evidencebased therapy such as the CPT across the VA healthcare system 

was rapid. 

For veterans who choose other treatment approaches, the VA offers a range of options to treat PTSD and associated symptoms. VA 

is a leader in developing evidence-based therapy, the global standard for PTSD treatment. 

Mr. Chairman, as a veteran myself, firmly committed to the successful completion of the study, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today. I and my colleagues are prepared to answer 

any questions the committee may have. Thank you. 

[Prepared statement of Mr. Fallon follows:] 


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STATEMENT OF DR. MICHAEL FALLON 

CHIEF VETERINARY MEDICAL OFFICER 

OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (VHA) 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS (VA) 

BEFORE THE 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY 

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM 

APRIL 14, 2016 

Good morning, Chairman DeSantis, Ranking Member Lynch, and Members of 

the Subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak about Veterans with 

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and service dogs. VA is in the midst of an 

ongoing study that pairs Veterans with PTSD with service dogs. I am accompanied 

today by Dr. Patricia Dorn, Director, Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, 

and Dr. Chris Crowe, Senior Mental Health Consultant and Liaison to the DoD Defense 

Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and TBI. 

Section 1077 of the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act directed VA to 

undertake a 3-year study to assess the benefits, feasibility, and advisability of using 

service dogs for the treatment or rehabilitation of Veterans with physical or mental 

injuries or disabilities, including PTSD. VA designed the study to focus completely on 

Veterans with PTSD because: the benefits of utilizing service dogs and guide dogs for 

physical disabilities were well established; PTSD is a high priority health issue in 

Veterans, and the benefits of service dogs in assisting people with mental health 

diagnoses have not been established in scientific literature. As mandated by Section 

1077, the study assesses the impact of service dogs on Veterans' quality of life, their 

usage of prescription drugs and healthcare resources, and their employment status. 

The study has been conducted in two phases. The first phase started in July 

2011 and was a pilot study based primarily at the Tampa VA Medical Center (VAMC). 

Service dogs for the study were purchased from three organizations through contracts. 

Veteran enrollment in the pilot study had to be suspended in January 2012 after two 
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different service dogs bit the children of Veterans in the study. In response to these bite 

incidents, VA study team members maintained responsibility for interactions with 

Veterans after pairing, reduced involvement of the service dog vendor post-pairing, and 

increased the frequency of interactions between Veterans and the study team to identify 

and solve potential dog behavior problems as soon as possible. Veteran enrollment 

resumed in July 2012, but less than a month later, Veteran enrollment was again 

suspended due to the discovery of serious problems with the health and training of dogs 

provided by the remaining dog organization under contract. 26 Veterans already 

participating had the opportunity to finish the study, but no new Veterans could be 

enrolled because no additional dogs were available. Of the 26 Veterans enrolled in this 

phase, twelve completed the study, and four are expected to finish by February 2017. 

VA recognized that major changes to the dog procurement contracts, study 

design, and study management were needed. Visits were conducted with a variety of 

dog training groups to seek advice and get suggestions on how to prevent the serious 

problems encountered in the pilot study. These groups included well-established and 

respected service dog organizations, military working dog training organizations, and 

Department of Defense and civilian Federal dog training units. 

The original study design was reviewed again by mental health professionals, all 

of whom have a research interest in diagnosing or treating PTSD in Veterans and have 

academic appointments at affiliate universities. Collectively, they have published over 

100 articles on PTSD, trauma recovery, or stress in scientific journals. Dr. Thad 

Abrams leads the Iowa City study team. He is a psychiatrist with the Iowa City VAMC 

Mental Health Service Line and has extensive experience treating Veterans with PTSD. 

Dr. Bekh Bradley-Davino was the initial lead for the Atlanta study team until he assumed 

greater responsibilities as the Director of the Mental Health Service Line at the Atlanta 

VAMC. Previously, he was the Director of the Atlanta VAMC Trauma Recovery 

program. Dr. Kelly Skelton now leads the Atlanta study team. She is the Acting Deputy 

Director of the Mental Health Service Line in Atlanta and the Medical Director of the 

Atlanta VAMC Trauma Recovery program. Until her recent retirement from VA, Dr. 

Kathy Magruder was a Research Health Specialist in the Research Service Line at the 
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Charleston, South Carolina VAMC. She has extensive experience as a clinical 

researcher, has published extensively on PTSD and other mental health conditions in 

Veterans, and is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Traumatic Stress. Dr. Dan 

Storzbach leads the Portland, Oregon study team. He is a Research Psychologist and 

the Lead Neuropsychologist for the VA Portland Health Care System Neuropsychology 

Clinic. 

As a result of consultation with dog training experts and the mental health 

research team, as well as thorough analysis of other lessons learned, key changes 

were made in the study design: 

• VA hired its own dog trainers to provide support to Veterans after they received 

a study dog, thus eliminating bias in the study. This required developing an 

entirely new position within VA. 

• VA developed its own contract health, behavior, and training standards for 

dogs, instead of relying on the varying standards in use by individual 

organizations. These standards are based upon portions of DoD working dog 

contract health standards, and utilize the Assistance Dog International Public 

Access Test and the American Kennel Club Basic and Advanced Canine Good 

Citizen tests. 

• VA dog trainers tested candidate dogs against the VA contract standards 

before accepting dogs into the study and paying for them. 

• VA study staff are responsible for interacting with Veterans after they receive a 

dog to ensure that any problems with the dog or Veteran-dog pairing are 

quickly identified and corrected. 

• Veterans with children less than 10 years of age in the household would not be 

eligible for the study until the safety record of at least 20dogs from each 

organization could be evaluated. Note: no vendor has reached the 20 dog 

delivery mark yet; the evaluations are still in progress .. 

• Instead of purchasing dogs only from organizations located close to a VA study 

site, a full and open contract competition was held to seek out the best possible 

dog producers. The new dog "vendors" chosen were Canine Companions for 
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Independence (Santa Rosa, California and other sites), the Armed Forces 

Foundation and partner K2 Solutions (Pinehurst, North Carolina), and the 

Auburn Technology and Research Foundation with partner iK9, incorporated 

(Auburn, Alabama). 

• Instead of only one VA study site, three sites are opened to increase the 

enrollment rate and enroll Veterans from different parts of the country. Atlanta, 

Georgia; Iowa City, Iowa; and Portland, Oregon were chosen as the study sites 

for the revised ("Phase 2") study. 

We also standardized the service dog required tasks so that dogs from different 

vendors would have similar training, reducing experimental variability. The service dog 

tasks chosen, based upon Veteran feedback in the Tampa pilot study and input from VA 

PTSD clinicians, were "block," "behind," "lights," "sweep," and "bring" (retrieve). 

The study was also strengthened by adding a second experimental group of 

Veterans who received emotional support dogs instead of service dogs. The basic 

obedience and health standards are the same for both types of dogs in the study, and 

both dog types provide love, affection, and an emotional bond with people, and have 

legal rights to housing and the cabins of commercial aircraft. However, service dogs 

are given much wider public access rights than emotional support dogs through the 

Americans with Disabilities Act, and only service dogs are trained in specific tasks that 

assist with a disability. By comparing and contrasting the results of the two groups, we 

expect to be able to better determine what features of each dog type are responsible for 

any benefits observed in the Veterans. Each Veteran enrolled in the study has a 50/50 

chance of receiving a service dog or an emotional support dog. 

A description of all the test instruments used in the study and instructions for 

Veterans interested in volunteering for the study are found on the 

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov website (study number NCT02039843). The instruments 

are administered about quarterly over 21 months to assess measures of self-care, 

interpersonal interactions and participation in society, the severity of PTSD symptoms, 

sleep-related problems, suicidal ideation, severity of mood disorders and substance 
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abuse, anger directed at others, inpatient and outpatient visits, medication usage, and 

measures of employment and work productivity. Veteran enrollment in the revised 

Phase 2 study began in December of 2014. Early planning suggested that the three 

study sites would collectively be able to enroll about 12 Veterans a month; however, the 

study experienced severe delays due to human resources problems in hiring VA dog 

trainers, and the complexity of the study required additional staffing at each of the three 

study sites. These problems led to a much lower monthly enrollment rate. As of the 

first week in April 2016, 107 of 220 Veterans have been enrolled in the study, and all 

three study teams will finally be fully staffed to achieve an enrollment rate of 12-15 

Veterans per month, which would allow all 220 Veterans to be enrolled by the end of 

this year or early 2017. Veterans remain in the study for about 21 months so data 

collection will end about 21 months after the last Veteran is enrolled, which would be 

late 2018. The data will then be analyzed, and the results will be published in a peerreviewed scientific journal. 

While VA does not purchase service dogs for Veterans, VA does provide benefits 

to eligible Veterans with a recognized service dog, which include free high quality 

veterinary wellness and medical/surgical insurance, certain hardware costs, and certain 

Veteran travel costs associated with training with the service dog. This benefit extends 

to service dogs prescribed for a disabled Veteran to manage a diagnosed visual, 

hearing, or substantial mobility impairment, in order to enable the Veteran to live 

independently. 38 C.F.R. § 17.148 (77 Fed. Reg. 54,381, Sept. 5, 2012) .. 

Currently, VA does not provide benefits for PTSD or mental health dogs because 

they are not known to be effective in overcoming specific functional limitations; this 

study is incredibly important in building the evidence base. VA continues to monitor 

other scientific literature for quality evidence to inform future policies and remains 

strongly committed to completing the current PTSD and service dog study at an 

estimated cost of at least $12 million. 

Existing Effective Treatment of PTSO 
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VA is strongly committed to the delivery of the best care for Veterans with PTSD. 

Advances in research have led to a range of effective treatments for PTSD that reduce 

symptoms and increase functioning and well-being. The VA/Department of Defense 

Clinical Practice Guideline recommends trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy 

[such as Prolonged Exposure (PE), and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)], Eye 

Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, stress inoculation, selective serotonin 

reuptake inhibitors, and venlafaxine, a serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, as 

primary treatments for PTSD. PE and CPT are among the most widely studied types of 

trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. Evidence demonstrating their 

effectiveness is particularly strong. VHA Handbook 1160.01, Uniform Mental Health 

Services in VA Medical Centers and Clinics, requires that all VA medical centers 

provide access to either PE or CPT. VA has supported this requirement by training 

upwards of 7,000 therapists in these treatments as part of a broader initiative to 

disseminate evidence-based psychotherapy for mental disorders. Uptake of PE and 

CPT across the VA health care system was rapid; by 2009, 96 percent of VA facilities 

were providing PE or CPT and 72 percent were providing both. VA also offers a range 

of treatment options to treat PTSD and associated symptoms and is using telehealth 

technologies to increase the availability of treatment for PTSD. VA remains open to 

new and innovative treatments for PTSD and supports research on these treatments as 

part of its portfolio on PTSD and related conditions. 

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today. We are 

prepared to answer any questions you or other Members of the Committee may have. 
14 

Mr. DESANTIS. Thank you, Dr. Fallon. 

Mr. Diamond, you are now recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF RORY DIAMOND 

Mr. DIAMOND. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, ranking 

member, members of the committee. We are absolutely thrilled to 

be here to talk about this very important matter. 

My name is Rory Diamond. I’m the Executive Director of K9s for 

Warriors. We are the Nation’s largest provider of service dogs for 

veterans with PTS, traumatic brain injuries, and/or who have been 

victims of military sexual trauma. 

With me today is Brett Simon, the founder of K9s for Warriors, 

and the current head of our K9 division. We also have two of our 

graduates. We have Joe Swoboda, an 18-year Army veteran who 

did three tours in Iraq. And he’s with his service dog Lilly. I also 

have with me Adam LeGrand, a 10-year Air Force veteran who 

helped men and women in uniform as a medic. He’s with his service dog Molly. 

As has already been mentioned, statistically speaking, 22 veterans are going to commit suicide today. That’s why K9s for Warriors exists. We are founded by a mom. Her name is Shari Duval, 

and she was worried about her own son’s PTS. 

Five years later, K9s for Warriors has grown into an organization with a 36 dedicated staff. We have a 9-acre, 17,000 square foot 

state-of-the-art campus in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. And most 

important, we have a track record of helping hundreds of veterans 

overcome the symptoms associated with PTS. Importantly, we are 

very successful at preventing veteran suicide. 

Every warrior that comes through our door gets the family treatment, I would say. They get a service K9, they get equipment, 

training, certification, seminars, legal instruction, vet care, housing, home-cooked meals. We have house moms who listen to them. 

We have house dads who provide advice. And frankly, we have full 

wraparound services and follow-up for the life of the dog and the 

life of the veteran. 

At K9s for Warriors we say we always have our veterans’ backs, 

and we absolutely never charge our veterans. Our program is 100 

percent free. 

We’ve had two independent sets of researchers evaluate our program. These are Ph.D.’s who looked at the efficacy of our program, 

have come back with the exact same conclusion: The program 

works. The dogs are effective. 

Let me just provide a flavor of this. The average K9s for Warriors applicant is on 10 to 15 medications. Fully 92 percent of them 

will reduce or eliminate those medications after receiving their dog. 

Seventy-three percent of our graduates improve their overall 

health. Eighty-five percent will handle anxiety better. Eighty-two 

percent report having fewer suicidal thoughts and suicidal ideation. 

Seventy-seven percent report a reduction of nightmares or night 

terrors, finally being able to get a full night’s sleep and being able 

to get back on a lifecycle. 

As Adam LeGrand, who is behind me, says about his service dog 

Molly, ‘‘She gives me the ability to be a father and a functioning 

member of society again.’’ And Joe, who is behind me, also says, 


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15 

‘‘I just wouldn’t be here without Lilly. She is the light in the darkness of PTSD.’’ 

So when we hear and read on the VA’s website that there is ‘‘not 

enough research yet to know if the dogs actually help treat PTS 

and its symptoms,’’ we fundamentally disagree. There is not a void 

of research in this regard that we don’t know whether or not a 

service dog can help mitigate the symptoms associated with PTSD 

and its associated comorbidities. There is enough research. K9s for 

Warriors is an example of how that can work. 

Given the current crisis of veteran suicide in America, we think 

it makes sense to err on the side of providing more options for our 

veterans. What is the harm here? The very worst thing that could 

happen is a veteran ends up with a dog. But the VA’s response is 

something that we have seen over and over and over again, that 

there is a reluctance to agree that this can work. 

Our warriors report to us, and they come from all over the country, 42 States, 150 cities, and we ask them all the time, tell us, how 

is the VA treating you? How is your PTS being treated? And this 

is what they tell us, and it’s shockingly similar and frustrating to 

hear it over and over again: 

They wait and they wait and they wait and they finally get an 

appointment. Then they go and get their appointment at the hospital and they wait hour after hour after hour, and finally, they get 

in front of a psychologist or a psychologist or a clinical social worker, and they have their moment. 

And let’s understand what this moment is. This is the one lifeline our government is giving these veterans to recover from PTS. 

This is their one chance. And do they get 45 minutes of a discussion of the wonderful panoply of options that we just heard Dr. 

Fallon talk about? No. They report to us they get 10, 15 minutes 

maybe. The first question is always about how are your meds? And 

then I guarantee you they walk out with another prescription drug. 

The VA has three responses to the PTS crisis in America: Drugs, 

drugs, and more drugs to help you with the drugs we already gave 

you. That is the response, and we find it unacceptable. 

The VA in our opinion has fumbled the first round of the pilot 

program. In our opinion, we have no confidence that they will successfully pull off the second round. We see an immediate veteran 

suicide crisis today. We believe the time is now, not after the VA 

gets their act together, but right now, to start saving these lives. 

We appreciate the chairman’s leadership on this issue and would 

be happy to answer questions. 

[Prepared statement of Mr. Diamond follows:] 


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_A_ 

lill!>_l'tut.l\A.Illl!!lltli 

114 Camp K9 Road • Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081 • (904) 686-1956 • Fax (904) 686-1957 

Email: info@k9sforwarriors.org • www.k9sforwarriors.org 

Thursday, April14, 2016 

Testimony ofRory Diamond, Executive Director ofK9s For Warriors before 

The Subcommittee on National Security of the House Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform: "Connecting Veterans \\ith PTSD with Service Dogs" 

The empirical evidence of the efficacy of service dogs in treating the symptoms of 

Post-traumatic Stress (PTS) is clear and overwhelming. The laborious second effort by 

the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to run a years-long pilot program to 

conclude what we already know is wasteful at best. With 22 American veterans 

committing suicide every day, the time for action is now. K9s For Warriors (K9s) is 

incredibly successful at preventing veteran suicide and giving our warriors a second 

chance at life. We believe that federal funding ought to be directed towards 

organizations like K9s so that our returning heroes can heal from the wounds of war. 

I. About K9s For Warriors 

Founded by Shari Duval in 2011, K9s is the nation's largest provider of service 

dogs for American veterans with PTS, traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and/or military 

sexual trauma (MST). K9s operates from a nine-acre, state-of-the-art campus in Ponte 

Vedra, Florida with the capacity to pair sixteen warriors with service dogs every month 

(192 per year). K9s has served veterans in 42 states and over 150 cities with plans to 

expand to meet the needs of our disabled veterans. 

At least 22 veterans commit suicide every day. 1 Twenty-nine percent ofpost-9/11 

veterans suffer from PTS? K9s was founded to combat this crisis and to aid veterans in 

their recovery process from trauma as a result of military service post 9/11. By pairing 

veterans with well-trained service dogs (themselves, rescues), the organization has been 

instrumental in the recovery of hundreds of disabled veterans, and, most importantly, we 

are incredibly successful at preventing veteran suicide. 

1 "Suicide Data Report," Department of Veterans Affairs, Mental Health Services, Suicide Prevention 

Program, Janet Kemp, RN PhD & Robert Bossarte, PhD., (Rev. April20!6). 

'"Mental Disorders Among OEF/OIF Veterans Using VA Health Care: Facts and Figures Institute of 

Medicine of the National Academies, National Academy of Sciences, Treatment for Post-traumatic Stress 

Disorder in Military," https://www,aamc.org/download/298324/data/iomPTSstudy.pdf(last visited April 

10, 2016). 
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114 Camp K9 Road· Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081 • (904) 686·1956 ·Fax (904) 686·1957 

Email: info@k9sforwarriors.org • www.k9sforwarriors.org 

II. The K9s For Warriors Program 

Shari Duval founded K9s to help her son Brett Simon recover from his own 

experience with PTS. Brett was an expert dog trainer for the Miami Township of 

Cincinnati Police Department, and, after 9/11, he was attached to the U.S. Army as a 

contractor, handling bomb-sniffing dogs. After two tours in Iraq, his body returned intact, 

but the old Brett was nowhere to be found. Determined to aid her son's recovery, Shari 

immersed herself in research about PTS.ln the course ofthis research, she found (1) an 

alarming number of veterans were suffering from the same debilitating symptoms as 

Brett, and (2) many people suffering from PTS had seen improvement with the help of 

service dogs. For Shari, the next step was obvious: start a non-profit to pair veterans with 

service dogs and get Brett back to doing what he loves-training dogs. 

Working initially out of a two-bedroom house, Shari and Brett found a number of 

rescue dogs at a local shelter and began inviting warriors suffering from PTS and other 

service-related issues to a three-week, in-residence training program. Five years later, the 

organization now has its own campus and kennels, a dedicated staff of 36 and tean1 of 

1200 volunteers, and, most importantly, a growing track record of success in aiding 

hundreds of veterans recover and reintegrate to civilian life with the aid of rescued, welltrained dogs. 

A. K9s Program Is Unique 

No other organization operates quite like K9s. First, K9s utilizes rescue and 

shelter dogs, saving the time and money required for a full-blown puppy breeding 

program. This results in a win/win for America in that the veteran receives a fully 

trained, healthy service canine while also saving a perfectly wonderful dog from a highkill shelter. Second, K9s provides a 21 day, in-house training program. This ensures that 

our warriors receive extensive one-on-one and cohort training. In addition, this allows 

our staff ample time to work with the wanior/canine team and ensure an excellent and 

effective match. Third, K9s utilizes both dog trainers and warrior trainers. Warrior 

trainers are veterans witl1 PTS who have service dogs and have progressed far enough 

along in their own recovery that they can now give back to fellow veterans. This peer-topeer mentoring ensures that each warrior has a robust support system while learning to 

utilize their service dog. Finallv, every wanior that walks through the door at K9s is 

family. We provide them with a service canine, equipment, training, certification, 

seminars, legal instruction, vet care, housing, home cooked meals, unconditional love and 

listening, and life-time of wrap-around services (including available life-long healthcare 

and food for their dogs). The K9s program is 100% free for the veteran. As we say at 

K9s, "We have our warriors' backs." 

2 
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114 Camp K9 Road· Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081 • (904) 686-1956 ·Fax (904) 686-1957 

Email: info@k9sforwarriors.org • www.k9sforwarriors.org 

B. The K9s Program Provides Clear and Convincing Evidence of the 

Efficacy of Service Dogs for Veterans with PTS 

The K9s program is incredibly effective. When the warriors come through the 

front door of our clubhouse, they are often giving life just one more chance. We serve 

the warriors most at risk of veteran suicide. Below is the statistical compilation two 

researchers compiled from an independent analysis of hundreds ofK9s case files: 

• The average K9s warrior is on I 0-15 medications when beginning our 

program. 92% see those medications reduced or eliminated after graduation. 

• 73% of graduates report improvement in health after having received their dog. 

• 85% report being able to handle anxiety better after having received their dog. 

• Before receiving their service dogs, 42% of graduates reported that they 

considered themselves to be in poor health. After receiving their service dog 

only 7% continued to rate their health as "poor.'' 

• 82% report a decrease in suicidal thoughts. 

• 77% report a reduction in nightmares/night nterrors. 

• Prior to entering the K9s program, none of the graduates reported handling 

flashbacks welL 35% reported handling flashbacks well after receiving their 

service dog. 

• 93% noted that they benefitted from the physical and mental bond with their 

service dog. 

• Less than 20% of the participants reported being able to attend work or school 

before receiving their service dog. This number rose to 50% after receiving 

their services dogs. 

• Before receiving their service dog, 93% of the participants reported that 

symptoms associated with PTS played a major role in their inability to enjoy 

activities. After receiving their service dog only 18% of participants continued 

to report that their symptoms played a major role. 3 

C. The K9s For Warriors Program is Scalable and Portable 

K9s pioneered an innovative way of training service dogs and pairing them with 

veterans seeking tools for resilience and health. K9s standardized its practices with the 

goal of being able to replicate the program across the country. With sufficient funding, 

the K9s program could be replicated in any community. The economies of scale for the 

3 Jaeckle, T. & Semegon, A. (2015 unpub.) K9s for Warriors: Brief Overview ofinitial Statistical Analysis, 

Flagler College. 

3 
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~~~!'RIHIIIUlllt,S 

114 Camp K9 Road • Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081 • (904) 686-1956 ·Fax (904) 686-1957 

Email: info@k9sforwarriors.org • www.k9sforwarriors.org 

K9s program are significant. In 2017, K9s will be able to train a healthy rescue dog and 

pair it with a warrior through our academy for approximately $23,000. 

The ancillary benefits to the VA for this effort are significant. For example, as 

noted above, K9s graduates utilize far fewer medications and have much better overall 

health. The U.S. federal price tag for the Iraq war- including an estimate for veterans' 

medical and disability costs into the future- is about $2.2 trillion dollars. The use of 

service dogs and the corresponding reduction in the demand for prescription drugs and 

other VA services is an obvious cost savings to the taxpayer. Moreover, the warrior will 

have a far higher quality of life with the use of a service dog, rather than simply taking 

more medications. Finally, many of our warrior graduates are 100% disabled, but choose 

to go back to work with their service dogs, rather than receive disability benefit checks 

from the government for the remainder of their lives. 

III. The VA Pilot Program Is Misguided at Best 

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) pilot program regarding the 

efficacy of service dogs for veterans with PTS (the "Pilot Program") is fundamentally 

flawed for at least four reasons: ( 1) sufficient evidence exists to support the use of service 

dogs for veterans with PTS; (2) the Pilot Program's use of emotional support dogs 

ignores the primary benefit of a service dog for veterans with PTS; (3) insufficient 

numbers of warriors are seeking and/or following through with traditional PTS therapies; 

and (4) the V A's delay in providing service dogs for veterans with PTS has already costs 

lives and any further delay (until at least 2019) will, undoubtedly, cost the lives of even 

more veterans. 

A. Sufficient Evidence Exists to Support the Use of Service Dogs for 

Veterans with PTS 

The VA makes clear on its website that it believes "there is not enough research 

yet to know if dogs actually help treat PTS and its symptoms."4 This misbelief underlies 

the purpose behind the Pilot Program-to sunnise whether or not service dogs help treat 

PTS; however, sufficient evidence exists to prove without a doubt that service canines 

ameliorate the symptoms ofPTS and related co-morbidities. 

4 U.S. Dept. of Vet. Affs website. http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/trcatment/cope/dogs_and_ptsd.asp (last 

visited April!O, 2016). 

4 
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li9SI'OltllillllllllltS 

--~--·"----· 

114 Camp K9 Road • Ponte Vedra. Florida 32081 • (904) 686-1956 • Fax (904) 686-1957 

Email: info@k9sforwarriors.org • www.k9sforwarriors.org 

1. Two independent studies prove the efficacy of the K9s For Warriors 

Program 

K9s along with its research partners at Purdue University and the Human Animal 

Bond Research Initiative will be announcing this summer a peer-reviewed, published 

study as to the efficacy ofK9s program. Specifically, Dr. Marguerite E. O'Hair, 

Assistant Professor, Human-Animal Interaction at Purdue University's Center for the 

Human-Animal Bond conducted saliva collection (mouth swab) analysis and 

standardized self-report measures of mental health and wellbeing, including symptoms of 

PTS as the ptimary outcome on the PTS Checklist, as well as secondary outcomes on 

psychological wellbeing, health, and social functioning on the NIH Patient Reported 

Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS). One-hundred forty one military 

veterans with PTS (113 male, 28 female) participated, including 76 with a service dog 

and 65 on the waitlist to receive a service dog fi·om K9s. 

Dr. O'Hair's preliminary conclusions are groundbreaking and encouraging, the 

service dogs: (1) lowered overall PTS symptom severity, in particular assisting warriors 

with the ability to cope with flashbacks and anxiety attacks, (2) lessened the frequency of 

nightmares and overall sleep disturbances, (3) lowered overall anxiety, depression, and 

anger, (4) improved levels of companionship and social reintegration, (5) lowered levels 

of social isolation, enabling warriors to leave their home more often and interact in public 

with others, (6) improve a warriors ability to participate in social activities and perform 

large tasks such as going to the movies, concerts, or traveling, and (7) increase overall 

psychological wellbeing, and higher levels oflife satisfaction and resiliencc. 5 

Moreover, Drs. Tina Jaeckle and Angi Semegon, Department of Social Sciences, 

Flagler College conducted an independent analysis verifying the benefits of participating 

in the K9s program for veterans struggling with PTS. Ninety-three percent of the 

participants noted that they benefitted from the physical and mental bond with their 

service dog. Participants also noted positive changes to overall health (t (59)= 7.95, p < 

.001). Before receiving their service dogs, 42% of warriors reported that they considered 

themselves to be in poor health. After receiving their service dog only 7% continued to 

rate their health as "poor." 

Marked changes in the number of prescription medications being used was also 

noted. Fifty percent of the participants reported using seven or more types of medication 

on a regular basis (daily use) prior to receiving their service dog. This number dropped 

to fewer than 20% of the participants using seven or more types of medication. Only 6% 

5

0'Haire, A. & Rodriguez, K.E. (future pub. date Summer 2016) Pilot Study of the Effects of Service Dogs 

on Mental Health and Wellness in War Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Purdue 

University. 

5 
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114 Camp K9 Road • Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081 • (904) 686-1956 • Fax (904) 686-1957 

Email: info@k9sforwarriors.org • www.k9sforwarriors.org 

of the participants reported taking less than three types of medication prior to receiving 

their service dog; however, 35% percent of the participants reported they were cuJTently 

using less than three types of medication after receiving their service dog. 

Dramatic changes in psychological symptoms associated with PTS were also 

documented. Participants reported statistically significant decreases in the number of 

nightmares (t (59)= 10.20, p< .001) flashbacks (t (59)=10.48, p<. 001) and anxiety 

attacks (t (59)= 10.82, p < .001) after receiving their service dog. Before receiving their 

service dog, 89% of the participants reported having more than two nightmares a week. 

Thirty-five percent reported having nightmares every night (seven nights a week). A 

marked decrease in the number of nightmares was noted. After receiving their service 

dog, only 5% continued to have nightmares every night, while 51% repo1ted having two 

or fewer nightmares per week. Only 3% ofthc participants reported handling anxiety 

attacks well before receiving their service dog. This number increased to 29% reported 

handling their anxiety attacks well after receiving their service dog. Not one of the 

respondents reported handling flashbacks well prior to receiving their service dog. 

However, a full35% reported handling flashbacks well after receiving their service dog. 

Most notably, a remarkable decrease in suicidal ideation was also repmted. Prior 

to receiving their service dog, 60% of participants reported often feeling "like dying 

would be easier." Only 7% of the participants continued to report that they often felt 

''like dying would be easier." 

Pa1ticipants also noted many positive changes in their daily activities. Less than 

20% of the participants reported being able to attend work or school before receiving 

their service dog. This number rose to 50% after receiving their services dogs. Before 

receiving their service dog, 93% of the participants reported that symptoms associated 

with PTS played a major role in their inability to enjoy activities. After receiving their 

service dog only 18% of participants continued to report that their symptoms played a 

major role in their ability to enjoy activities. Although many participants (51%) noted 

that their symptoms still impacted their ability to enjoy activities, they reported a 

decrease in the degree to which their symptoms interfered with their ability to enjoy 

activities. 6 

2. An independent study of another agency providing veterans with PTS 

service dogs made similar conclusions as the two K9s studies 

In 2013, doctoral candidate Alicia Moore presented a dissertation for a degree of 

Doctor of Psychology at the Wright Institute Graduate School of Psychology. Dr. Moore 

conducted an independent review of an unnamed service dog agency's placement of 

6 Jaeckle (2015), infra n. 3. 

6 
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114 Camp K9 Road • Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081 • (904) 686-1956 • Fax (904) 686-1957 

Email: info@k9sforwarriors.org • www.k9sforwarriors.org 

service dogs with veterans with PTS and made strikingly similar findings as made by 

Drs. O'Haire, Jaeck:le, and Semegon about the K9s program. 

For example, Dr. Moore found that veterans in that program suffering from PTS 

made dramatic improvements after receiving their service canine. The recipients reported 

improvements in their ability to handle any or an outright reduction in re-experiencing, 

nightmares/night terrors, and flashbacks. Likewise, the service canines assisted in 

overcoming problems of avoidance, numbing, hyper arousal, and various PTS comorbidities.7 

3. A sound foundation of empirical data supports the use of service dogs 

to ameliorate the symptoms of PTS 

While not directed at the use of service dogs for veterans suffering from PTS 

specifically, there is ample data showing that service dogs can help anyone cope with 

and/or recover from the symptoms ofPTS generally. For example, studies have 

concluded that spending time with a dog can: ( 1) increase feelings of affection and 

unconditional love8

; (2) reduce feelings ofloneliness9

; (3) increase feelings of 

empowerment10; (4) help one feel valued and needed11 ; (5) provide a major source of 

support12; (6) increase present-moment focus 13 ; (7) increase pro-social behaviors 14; and, 

most importantly, (8) reduce stress and anxiety. 15 

7 Marston, H. & Kopicki, A. (20 15). The Military Psychologist. The Impact of Service Dogs On Post 

Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Veteran Population. 8 Cannack, B.J. (1991). The role of companion animals for persons with AIDS/HIV. Holistic Nursing 

Practice. 

9 Carmack (1991), infra n. 8; Krause-Parello, C.A. (2008). The mediating effect of pet attachment support 

between loneliness and general health in older females living in the community. Journal a,{ Community 

Health Nursing. Krause-Parellow, Rew, L. (2000). Friends and pets as companions; strategies for coping 

with loneliness among homeless youth. Journal a,{ Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing: Official 

Publication of the Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nurses, Inc. 10 Johson, C.M. (2001). Relationships with animals as a component o,{thc healing process: A study of child 

abuse survivors. The Union Institute. 11 Carmack (1991), inji'a n. 8; Rew (2000), inji-a n. 9. 12 Bardnill, N. & Hutchison, S. (1997). Animal-assisted therapy with hospitalized adolescents. Journal of 

Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing: Official Publication of the Association of Child and Adolescent 

Psychiatric Nurses; Carmack (1991 ), il!fi·a, n. 8. 13 Carmack (1991 ), inji'a, n. 8; McGraw, S. (2007). The relationship between soldier and military working 

dog during the Vietnam War: An empirical existential phenomenological study. Duquesne University. 14 Kongable, L.G., Buckwalter, K.C., & Stolley, J.M. (1989). The effects of pet therapy on the social 

behavior of institutionalized Alzheimer's clients. Archives o,/Psychiatric Nursing. 15 Allen, K. (2003). Are Pets a Health Pleasure? The Influence of Pets on Blood Pressure. Current 

Directions in Psychological Science; Barker, S. B. Knisely, J.S., McCain, N.L., Schubert, C.M., & 

Pandurangi, A.K. (201 0). Exploratory study of stress-buffering response patterns from interatction with a 

therapy dog. Anthrozoos; Carmack ( 1991 ), infra n. 8 

7 
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114 Camp K9 Road • Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081 • (904) 686-1956 • Fax (904) 686-1957 

Email: info@k9sforwarriors.org • www_k9sforwarriors.org 

Moreover, animal-assisted therapy has been studied and found to be helpful for a 

variety of mental health disorders including: (1) anxiety16; (2) depression17; (3) 

processing grief18; (4) relaxation19; (5) self-esteem20; (6) social isolation/loneliness2

\ and 

(7) substance abuse. 22 

Thus, the main tenant underlining the Pilot Program-that there is insufficient 

evidence attesting to the efficacy of service canines in ameliorating the symptoms of 

PTS-is wholly untenable. The weight of the empirical evidence clearly supports the use 

of service canines to reduce PTS symptoms. And, given the current crisis in veteran 

suicide in America, wouldn't it make sense to err on the side of providing more to our 

veterans, not less? 

B. The Pilot Program's Use of Emotional Support Animals Ignores the 

Central Purpose of a Service Dog for a Veteran with PTS 

One of the greatest challenges facing a veteran with PTS is walking out their front 

door. Countless K9s warrior participants report that they cannot go to a store, get on a 

bus, go to the mall, or participate in their childrens' school activities.23 Our warriors are 

16 Allen, K. (2003), infra n. 15; Barker eta!. (201 0), infra n. 15; Morgan, T. (2008). An examination of the 

anxio(vtic effects of interaction with a therapy dog. Indiana University; Shiloh, S. (2003). Reduction of 

state-anxiety by petting animals in a controlled laboratory experiment. Anxiety, Stress & Coping. 17 Folse, E.B., Minder, C.C., Aycock, M.J., & Santana, R.T. (1994). Animal-assisted therapy and 

depression in adult college students. Anthrozoos; Hagman, C.S. (1999). 17te effect of animal-assisted 

therapy on levels of measured anxiety and deperession in residents of assisted living and health care 

communities. U. Tennessee; Souter, M.A., & Miller, M.D. (2007). Do animal-assisted activities effectively 

treat depression? A Meta-analysis. Anthrozoos. 18 Obrien, K. (2007). Animal-assisted activities and therapy with bereaved children. Cal. State University, 

Long Beach; Teso, J. (2011). The /.:.]feet of a Therapy Dog on the Effectiveness of a Child Lifelnten•ention 

with Adolescents E~periencing Grief and Loss. Arizona State University. 19 Charnetski, C.J., Riggers, S., & Brennan, F.X. (2004). Effect of petting a dog on immune system 

function. 

20 Heindl, B.A. (1996). 17ze effectiveness of pet therapJ' as an inten•ention in a community-based children's 

day treatment program. Missisippi State University; Pedersen, I., Nordaunet, T., Martinsen, E.W., Berget, 

B., & Braastad, B.W. (2001). FAm animal-assisted intervention; relationship between work and contact 

with farm animals and change in depression, anxiety, and self-efficacy among persons with clinical 

depression. 

" Banks, M.R., & Banks. W.A .. (2005). The effects of group and individual animal-assisted therapy on 

loneliness in residents of long-term care facilities. Anthrozoos; McConnel, A.R., Brown, C.M., Shoda, 

T.M., Stayton, L.E., & Martin, C.E. (2011). Friends with benefits: On the positive consequences of pet 

ownership. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; Rew (1990), inji-a n. 9. 22 Campbeii-Begg, T. (I 998). Promotion of transactions during animal-assisted, group therapy with 

individuals who are recoveringfrom chemical addictions. D'Youville College; Pace, K.L. (1996). The 

impact of animal-assisted therapy with an adolescent substance abuse population. Rush University, 

College of Nursing; Wesley, M.C., Minatrea, N.B., & Watson, J.C. (2009) Animal-assisted therapy in the 

treatment of substance dependence. Anthrozoos. 23 Dr. Moore reports remarkably similar statements from the warriors she interviewed. 

8 
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114 Camp K9 Road • Ponte Vedra, 

.i'!!SI'IJII!!'Uliii!IIIS 

~ Florida 32081 • (904) 686-1956 • Fax (904) 686-1957 

Email: info@k9sforwarriors.org • www.k9sforwarriors.org 

isolated and hiding at home. The story is repeated over-and-over, our warriors are hyper 

vigilant, prone to anxiety in public, and generally unable to go out into the civilian world 

further isolating themselves. This is an impassable barrier to getting help. The service 

dogs we pair them with serve as a bridge for them to integrate successfully into the 

civilian community. Moreover, after returning from war, our warriors no longer have 

benefit and comfort of their battle buddies. Our graduates consistently tell us that their 

dogs help fill that void. 

As noted above, less than 20% of warriors applying to the K9s program report 

being able to attend work or school before receiving the service dog?4 However, this 

isolation drops dramatically after receiving a service dog. K9s has found through its lifetime follow-up/wrap around services program that graduated warriors have reengaged in 

many life tasks that their symptoms previously prevented them from participating in, 

such as work, school, and socializing with family and friends. 

Yet, via the Pilot Program, the VA is attempting to liken a service dog with an 

emotional support animal. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and associated 

regulations ensures public access for service dogs but does not protect such access for 

individuals with emotional support dogs. 25 Thus, the VA's attempt to push emotional 

support dogs onto warriors with PTS points to their total lack of awareness as to when 

and, in particular where, a veteran with PTS needs a service dog. Our disabled veterans 

need to be able to take their dogs to work, school, the mall, on an airplane. What good is 

an emotional support dog if the wan·ior cannot take it to the very places that trigger his or 

her PTS symptoms? 

C. Few Veterans Seek Treatment for PTS and Even Fewer Continue that 

Treatment 

The Pilot Program assumes that the VA is offering another viable option for the 

treatment of PTS for the veterans they serve. Putting aside the shockingly inept response 

by the VA to the veteran suicide crisis, not enough of our warriors are seeking help from 

traditional sources. One study found that ofvetcrans filing disability claims from PTS, 

24 Jaeckle (2016), infi'a n. 3. 25 The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 2010 Regulations define a service animal as "any dog that is 

individually trained to do work or perfonn tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including 

a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Other species of animals, whether 

wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals for the purposes of this definition." C.F.R. § 

35.104 and § 36.104 (201 0). An emotional support dog is not trained to perfonn any specific tasks and, 

therefore, does not enjoy the same public access laws as a service dog. 

9 
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~ !!l_S_I'tl!'\filllll!(lll,~ 

114 Camp K9 Road • Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081 • (904) 686-1956 • Fax (904) 686-1957 

Email: info@k9sforwarriors.org • www.k9sforwarriors.org 

just over 50% also sought treatment for the condition.26 Moreover, the drop-out rate of 

veterans for more traditional PTS therapies is too high.27 One analysis found that the 

attrition rate was 68%. 28 Based upon the high-rate of veterans with PTS who will not seek 

out treatment at all and the high rate of attrition for those that do, other approaches, 

specifically the use of service dogs must be tried. Programs like K9s are undoubtedly 

filling the gaps where the VA is failing. Without question, the attrition rate from the K9s 

program is materially lower than traditional therapies. 

D. The Time Has Long Since Passed for the VA to Provide PTS Service Dogs 

The original PTS service dog pilot program was mandated by Congress in 2009. 

Since then, over 50,000 American veterans have committed suicide. Jfthe VA 

successfully concludes this study on time, it will be finished in 2018 with funding 

available for warriors in 2019. That is a best case scenario; however, as of this 

testimony, the VA has, apparently, only been able to pair a few dozen warriors with dogs, 

and it seems highly unlikely that the Pilot Program will conclude on time. Likewise, 

there is very little evidence indicating that even with positive results from the Pilot 

Program that the VA will overcome its obvious reluctance to pay for PTS service dogs 

and act on that data. 

Our warriors report to us that they receive very little attention at the VA They 

wait and wait and wait, and when they finally get a moment before a psychiatrist or a 

psychologist (or very often a clinical social worker), they get no more than a few minutes 

of their time. On a good day, they will get some eye-contact, but most of the time they 

just see someone filling out a form. And, without fail, they walk away with yet another 

prescription drug. Rehashing the litany of failures of the VA system seems to serve little 

purpose. Suffice to say that our warriors feel their govermnent has abandoned them. 

We have proof the dogs work. Providing our disabled veterans with a life-saving 

(and cost effective) service dog is not too much to ask. The time is now to provide these 

essential tools that will help keep our nation's heroes alive. 

26 Sayer, N., Friedemann-Sanchez, G. Spoont, M., Murdoch, M., Parker, LE., Chiros, C., & Rosenbeck, R. 

(2009). A qualitative study of determinants ofPTSD treatment initiation in veterans. Psychially: 

Interpersonal and Biological Processes. 27 A.ngeli, N. (2009). Adherence to psychotherapy for post-traumtic stress in veterans of militmy combat in 

Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom). Georgia State 

University. 

28 Garcia, H.A, Kelly, L.P., Rentz, T.O., & Shuko, L. (2011 ). Pretreatment Predictors of Dropout From 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for PTSD in Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans. Psyehological Sen•ices. 

10 
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~ liiiSFOitlUIIIIIOIIS 

114 Camp K9 Road • Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081 • (904) 686-1956 • Fax (904) 686-1957 

Email: info@k9sforwarriors.org • www.k9sforwarriors.org 

Respectfully Submitted, 

IC:of 

Rory D1amond, 

~~ Executive Director 

11 
27 

Mr. DESANTIS. Thank you. 

Mr. Lyle, you are up for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF COLE LYLE 

Mr. LYLE. Well, thank you, Chairman DeSantis, Ranking Member Lynch, distinguished Representatives of the subcommittee. I 

appreciate the opportunity to testify. 

I’d like to begin by saying that I’m not here for myself. I’m here 

strictly for my brothers and sisters still struggling to transition to 

post-military life while also struggling with posttraumatic stress 

and no other options besides drugs and therapy. I’m here for those 

of us in the veteran communities who have been left behind and 

continue to deal with the pain of suicide, as other veterans see no 

way out. I’m here for the veterans who have lost faith in the system, lost hope for themselves, and have lost purpose in their lives. 

I’m here for the men and women that, like myself, have had to go 

it alone and acquire their service dogs at extraordinary financial 

burden to them. 

For these reasons, I’ve been fighting for the last year to change 

the existing VA policy. I believe that allowing veterans to fight PTS 

without all options available to them is tantamount to sending our 

military to fight an enemy without a secondary weapon in their arsenal. 

While in Afghanistan for the majority of 2011, my unit served in 

the kinetic Helmand Province. I was based out of Camp Leatherneck but spent some time with the British and ISAF forces near 

Marjah on a Royal air base in Lashkar Gah. My physical injuries 

as a result of military service are insignificant relative to my fellow 

veterans. 

But like many veterans today who show little signs of physical 

injury, there are many scars beneath the surface. During the last 

few months of my deployment, as our replacements were starting 

to arrive and take over the operational capabilities of our unit, I 

felt I wasn’t doing enough to help the cause of our war fighters. I 

started volunteering my time, largely during sleep hours, at a severely understaffed Bastion trauma center. It was there, mentally 

unprepared for the new volunteer role I assumed, that has affected 

me most in my post-deployment transition. 

Upon returning stateside, veterans take a post-deployment 

health assessment, which indicated that I needed to seek treatment 

for posttraumatic stress. I started to utilize the VA system, and 

eventually, I met with a psychologist who confirmed the preliminary results of the health assessment. I was then prescribed sleep 

aids and antidepressants and told to utilize what’s called a Veterans Center in my local area for counseling. 

A little less than 2 years on this path, the symptoms seemed to 

stagnate or get worse. Upon discharge from the Marine Corps in 

early 2014, interpersonal relationships were harder to maintain 

than necessary, along with not having the support system of my 

fellow marines and the chain of command. I didn’t have a civilian 

job, was not in school yet, and simultaneously was experiencing a 

divorce. 

In the same few months, I would experience what most veterans 

now are all too familiar with: the loss of military friends to preVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:15 Mar 08, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\23642.TXT APRIL

KING-6430 with DISTILLER
28 

ventable suicide. Many of these veterans had gotten addicted to the 

slew of pills prescribed to them and lost even a glimmer of hope 

in their lives. Some of these men and women had spouses, had children, mothers, fathers, and friends they left behind because the 

status quo of treatment for posttraumatic stress failed them. 

Life as I’d known it had been ripped away, and one night alone, 

I decided to end it all. It is only for the timing of a friend, a fellow 

marine, arriving on my doorstep at that exact moment that I’m 

here right now, semper fidelis indeed. 

The next day I quit medication cold turkey, not wanting to continue down the dark path of opiate addiction. I sought another way 

and found that a trained service dog was an option, but not one 

provided by the VA. Further inquiry to local nonprofits similar to 

K9s for Warriors resulted in wait times over a year, with the demand being as high and nonprofit-based budgets what they are. 

A few months after searching myself, I got Kaya, who’s at my 

feet today, who quite literally pounced into my life. I had her obedience trained, then subsequently trained for posttraumatic stress 

symptoms by an Assistance Dogs International-accredited trainer. 

After roughly $10,000 all told with my family’s assistance, of my 

own money, I got the help I needed. Yet today, many veterans still 

don’t have those resources. 

I still have my bad days, but with Kaya at my side, I’m largely 

in a different phase. I call it recovery. Retired Marine General 

James Mattis calls it posttraumatic growth. The bad days are less 

frequent than they’ve ever been, and they mainly come when I get 

news of another friend who has committed suicide. 

Since starting this quest, more and more of the veteran community have come forward to impart upon me the stories of their 

brothers and sisters who have taken their lives. Just last week, a 

close friend of mine in Texas lost a marine he served with to suicide. A month ago, one of my best friends who I deployed with, and 

the father of my goddaughter, admitted to me that he had gotten 

close and also would have succeeded had another marine not 

stepped in. 

They all come to me pleading, in fact begging, to use what voice 

I have in this chamber and in the halls of Congress to give you all 

this message: Service dogs will save lives. And with the current 

epidemic of veteran suicides, it is unconscionable to keep the status 

quo and wait any longer to institute this change we all know is a 

viable solution to reduce the epidemic of veteran suicides. 

Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify, and I look 

forward to answering your questions. 

[Prepared statement of Mr. Lyle follows:] 


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29 


KING-6430 with DISTILLERInsert offset folio 18 here 23642.018

April14'h, 2016 

Statement of Cole T. Lyle before the House Oversight and Government Reform 

Subcommittee on National Security 

Chairman DeSantis, Ranking Member Cummins, distinguished Representatives of this 

subcommittee, thank you all for the opportunity to testify. I request that my statement be 

accepted for the record. 

I'd like to begin by saying I'm not here for myself. I'm here strictly for my brothers and sisters 

still struggling to transition to post-military life while struggling with PTS and no other options 

besides traditional evidence based treatments. I'm here for those of us in the veteran 

communities who have been left behind and continue to deal with the pain of suicide, as other 

veterans see no way out. I'm here for the veterans who have lost faith in the system, lost hope 

for themselves, and have lost purpose in their lives. I'm here for the men and women that, like 

myself, have had to go it alone and acquire their service dogs, at extraordinary financial burden 

to them. For these reasons, I've been fighting for the last year to change VA policy. I believe 

that allowing veterans to fight PTS without all options available to them is tantamount to 

sending our military to fight an enemy without a secondary weapon in their arsenal. 

While in Afghanistan for the majority of 2011, my unit served in the kinetic Helmand Province. I 

was based out of Camp Leatherneck, but spent some time with the British and ISAF forces near 

Marjah, on a Royal air-base in Lashkar-Gah. My physical issues as a result of military service are 

insignificant relative to that of my fellow Marines and Royal Marines. But like many veterans 

today who show little signs of physical injury, there are many with scars beneath the surface. 

During the last few months of my deployment, as our replacements were starting to arrive and 

take over the operational capabilities of our unit, I felt I wasn't doing enough to help the cause 

of our warfighters. I started volunteering my time, largely during sleep hours, at the severely 

understaffed Bastion Trauma Center. It was there, mentally unprepared for the new volunteer 

role I assumed, that has affected me most in my post-deployment transition. 

Upon returning stateside we took a "Post-Deployment Health Assessment", which indicated a 

need to seek treatment for PTS. I started to utilize the VA system and eventually, I met with a 

psychologist who confirmed the preliminary results of the Health Assessment, and proceeded 

to prescribe me sleep aids and antidepressants. Furthermore, I was told to utilize a Veterans 

Center for counseling. A little less than two years on this path, the symptoms seemed to 

stagnate or get worse. Upon discharge from the Corps in early 2014, intra-personal 

relationships were harder to maintain than necessary, along with not having the familiar 

support system of my fellow Marines and the chain of command. I didn't have a civilian job, 

wasn't in school yet, and simultaneously was going through a divorce. In the same few months, 

I would experience what most veterans now are all too familiar with: the loss of military friends 

to preventable suicide. Many of these veterans had gotten addicted to the slew of pills 

prescribed to them and lost even a glimmer of hope in life. Some of these men and women had 
30 


KING-6430 with DISTILLERInsert offset folio 19 here 23642.019

spouses, children, mothers, fathers, and friends they left behind because the status quo of 

treatment for PTS failed them. Life as I'd known it had been ripped away, and one night alone, I 

decided to end it all. It is only for the timing of a friend, a fellow Marine, arriving on my 

doorstep at that exact moment that I'm here right now. Semper Fidel is, indeed. 

The next day I quit medication cold-turkey, not wanting to continue down the dark path of 

opioid addiction. I sought another way, and found that a trained service dog was an option, but 

not one provided by the VA. Further inquiry to local non-profits similar to K9's for Warriors 

resulted in wait-times over a year. A few months after searching myself, I got Kaya, who quite 

literally pounced into my life. I had her obedience trained, then subsequently trained for PTS 

symptoms by an Assistance Dogs International-accredited trainer. After roughly ten-thousand 

dollars all-told of my own money, I received help from my family who saw the need. Yet today, 

many veterans don't have those resources. I still have bad days, but with Kaya at my side, I'm 

largely in a different phase. I call it recovery. Retired Marine General James Mattis called it, 

"Post Traumatic Growth". 

The bad days are' !ess frequent than they have ever been, and they mainly come when I get 

news of anotherfriend lost to suicide. Since starting this quest, more and more of the veteran 

community have come forward to impart upon me the stories of their brothers and sisters who 

have committed suicide. Just last week, a close friend of mine lost a Marine he served with to 

suicide. A month ago, one of my best friends whom I deployed with, and the father of my goddaughter, admitted to me he got close and would have succeeded if not for another Marine 

intervening. They all come to me pleading, in fact begging me, to use what voice I have in this 

chamber to give you all this message: service dogs will save lives, and with the current epidemic 

of veteran suicides, it's unconscionable to keep the status quo and wait any longer to institute 

this change we all know is a viable solution to reduce the epidemic of veteran suicides. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to testify, and I look forward to answering your questions. 
31 

Mr. DESANTIS. Thank you. 

Mr. Feldman, you are up for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF STEVE FELDMAN 

Mr. FELDMAN. That’s a tough act to follow. 

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Lynch, members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. 

I’m Steve Feldman. I’m the executive director of the Human-Animal Bond Research Initiative. That’s HABRI for short. We’re a 

nonprofit research and education foundation that funds research on 

the benefits of companion animals to human health, and specifically, we’re looking at children with autism, we’re looking at victims of domestic violence, and we’re looking at how we can use 

these animal-assisted interventions for veterans with 

posttraumatic stress. 

In addition to funding this research, we also have built and 

maintained the world’s largest research library on human-animal 

interaction, and that’s free and online and available and searchable 

to anyone who’s doing research in this area. 

And we also support commonsense public policies that should reflect the definitive body of science that show significant positive 

health impacts that companion animals have on human health. 

The VA says it doesn’t have enough evidence to support service 

animals for veterans with PTS. We respectfully disagree, and that’s 

why we support H.R. 4764. We believe there is significant scientific 

evidence to support the efficacy of service dogs for veterans with 

PTS. 

We funded the first systematic review of research on animal-assisted intervention for victims of trauma. That was conducted at 

Purdue University, Dr. Fallon’s alma mater, and it was published 

less than a year ago. And what it found was preliminary evidence 

that animals provide unique elements to address PTS symptoms. 

And I think it’s also really important to note, because Mr. Diamond said what’s the harm, this systematic review of published 

and unpublished research found no negative effects from any of 

these studies. So no harm was found in any of the research that 

we looked at. So we think this supports the conclusion that service 

dogs for trauma survivors, including veterans with PTS, can positively effect depression, anxiety, social outcomes, sleep, and quality 

of life. 

And we’re currently funding a pilot study on the effect of service 

dogs on mental health and wellness in military veterans with PTS. 

Scientists are measuring psychological and psychosocial functioning, including symptoms of PTSD, depression, life and relationship satisfaction, and quality of life in 137 military veterans diagnosed with PTSD who either have a service dog or who are waiting 

to receive one. And the ones who are waiting to receive one is our 

control —scientific control group. 

And so the preliminary unpublished results indicate that military veterans with service dogs exhibit significantly lower overall 

PTS symptoms severity, and that includes better ability to cope 

with flashbacks and anxiety attacks; reduced frequency of nightmares and less overall sleep disturbance; lower anxiety, depression, 

and anger; higher levels of companionship and social reintegration; 


KING-6430 with DISTILLER
32 

increased overall psychological well-being; and higher levels of life 

satisfaction and resilience. And we have to wait for the final results 

of this study to be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, 

which we expect to happen later this year, but we wanted to bring 

you these preliminary outcomes because they’re so encouraging and 

so important to the discussion today. 

And I also urge the committee and the VA to look broadly at research studies that really look at several key measures of mental 

health and well-being like depression, anxiety, stress, and social integration, all of which are associated with PTS. My written testimony covers these in great detail, and you can find even more 

studies in our database. 

And that’s why an organization like HABRI can be hopefully 

really helpful because we’re looking at the broad spectrum of research, not just one little narrow slice of it. And that broad spectrum of research is pretty definitive. You know, for example, we’re 

looking at what happens in a person’s brain when they interact 

with an animal. The level of oxytocin, which is a good hormone, 

goes up. The level of cortisol, which is the stress hormone, goes 

down. And so when fingers meet fur, there’s something really fantastic that’s happening, and I think we’ve heard about some of the 

specific examples today. 

You know, if you combine those scientifically documented therapeutic effects with the trained actions of a service dog, you get a 

powerful combination. The Americans with Disabilities Act recognizes service dogs for PTSD in their regulations, and States are increasingly updating their definition of service animals. Just last 

year, the State of Florida passed a law to expand protections of 

service animal statutes to include traumatic brain injury and 

PTSD. And the inclusion of these protections allows veterans who 

have a disability that may not be outwardly visible to have access 

to public accommodations with their service dogs. Sometimes these 

symptoms manifest themselves in public, so while pets and emotional support animals can provide some of the benefits we’ve just 

been discussing, it’s only a trained service dog that has full public 

access that can provide that animal-assisted intervention wherever 

and whenever it’s really necessary for a veteran with PTSD. 

You know, what about the doctors on all this? We did a survey 

last year which showed—of 1,000 doctors which showed that 69 

percent of them have worked with animals and hospitals, medical 

centers, or medical practice, and 88 percent of doctors a saw improvement in a patient’s physical condition and 97 percent saw an 

improvement in patients’ mental health condition as a result of 

animal-assisted intervention. So doctors are likely to be really supportive if we can get this program going, and really willing participants as we provide service dogs to veterans with PTS. 

So I just want to conclude by saying there is a growing body of 

research that demonstrates widespread positive mental health impacts from the human-animal bond, and we hope that you and the 

VA will take this broad evidence into consideration when shaping 

public health policy both in relation to 4764 and beyond. 

And I hope the members of the subcommittee and the VA will 

rely on HABRI as a resource. That’s what we’re here for, to be a 

scientific resource for anyone who’s interested in this. 


KING-6430 with DISTILLER
33 

With PTS affecting so many of our veterans, we need to make 

sure that everyone has access to service dogs. And H.R. 4764 really 

is a great step in the right direction, and that’s why we fully support the legislation. 

So, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Lynch, members of the committee, I really want to thank you. I want to thank your hardworking staff, and especially, Mr. Chairman, thank you for your 

leadership on this issue. And I’m happy to answer any questions 

that you may have. 

[Prepared statement of Mr. Feldman follows:] 


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Testimony of Steven Feldman 

Human Animal Bond Research Initiative (HABRI) Foundation 

Before 

The U.S. House of Representatives 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

Subcommittee on National Security 

April14, 2016 

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony to the House 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security. 

My name is Steven Feldman, I am the Executive Director of the Human Animal Bond 

Research Initiative (HABRI) Foundation, a non-profit research and educational 

organization that works to fund scientific research on the human health benefits of 

companion animals. HABRI is in its third year of funding innovative research projects, 

which include studies on the benefits of animal-assisted interventions for children with 

autism, victims of domestic violence, and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder 

(PTSD). In addition to funding groundbreaking research, HABRI maintains the world's 

largest online library for scientific information on the human-animal bond, making it the 

most comprehensive resource in this growing field of study. HABRI works to inform the 

public about this research, including the need for public policies reflecting the definitive 

body of science that shows the significant, positive impact of companion animals on 

human health. 

Veterans who suffer from physical and mental disabilities deserve every 

therapeutic treatment and form of ongoing support available to them. This includes 

service animals to aid in short- and long-term recovery. The U.S. Department of 
35 


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Veterans Affairs (VA) currently supports service dogs for veterans "diagnosed as having 

visual, hearing, or substantial mobility impairment". However, in 2012 the VA concluded 

that it would not support service animals for mental disabilities based on "a lack of 

evidence supporting a finding of mental health service dog efficacy."; 

HABRI strongly supports the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers 

(PAWS) Act, HR 4764, which will direct the VA to carry out a pilot program to provide 

service dogs to veterans with severe PTSD. HABRI maintains that there is significant 

scientific evidence to substantiate the efficacy of service dogs for veterans with PTSD. 

HABRI supported the first systematic review of the research on animal-assisted 

intervention (AAI) for victims of trauma conducted by Purdue University, which was 

published less than a year ago. The study found preliminary evidence that "animals may 

provide unique elements to address several PTSD symptoms." Specifically, "people with 

PTSD often experience emotional numbing, yet the presence of an animal has been 

reported to elicit positive emotions and warmth. Animals have also been demonstrated 

as social facilitators that can connect people and reduce loneliness, which may assist 

individuals with PTSD break out of isolation and connect to the humans around them.";; 

I think it is also important to note that no negative effects were reported. This study 

supports the conclusion that service dogs for trauma survivors, including veterans with 

PTSD, can positively affect depression, anxiety, social outcomes, sleep, and quality of 

life. 

2 
36 


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HABRI is currently funding a pilot study on the effects of service dogs on mental 

health and wellness in military veterans with PTSD. This study, which is scheduled to be 

completed this summer, analyzes 137 military veterans diagnosed with PTSD from a 

national service dog provider, K9s for Warriors, who either currently had a service dog 

or were on the waitlist to receive one. Scientists measured psychosocial and 

psychological functioning, including symptoms of PTSD, depression, life and 

relationship satisfaction, and quality of life. The researchers also collected salivary 

assays of cortisol awakening response to examine stress and hyper arousal. 

Preliminary, unpublished results indicate that military veterans with a service dog 

exhibit significantly lower overall PTSD symptom severity. Compared to those on the 

waitlist, veterans with PTSD paired with service dogs demonstrated a better ability to 

cope with flashbacks and anxiety attacks; reduced frequency of nightmares and less 

overall sleep disturbance; lower anxiety, depression and anger; higher levels of 

companionship and social reintegration; increased overall psychological wellbeing; and 

higher levels of life satisfaction and resilience. While we must wait for the final results of 

this study to be published later this year, these preliminary outcomes are encouraging, 

and we felt that it was important to share them with you today. 

I would also urge the Committee and the VA to look broadly at research studies 

indicating that several key measures of mental health and well-being are positively 

affected by animal-assisted interventions, including depression, anxiety and stress - all 

of which are symptoms associated with PTSD. For example, studies suggested that the 

3 
37 


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release of oxytocin, which occurs during positive contact with companion animals, 

"mediates a host of effects such as stimulating social interaction, reducing stress and 

increasing pain thresholds";;; and that "interaction with a friendly companion animal, in 

particular a dog, positively affects endocrine responses as indicated by changes in the 

levels of cortisol. .. suggesting an attenuation of stress responses via HAI."iv This speaks 

to what is happening in a person's brain when they interact with an animal: the level of 

oxytocin, a good hormone, increases, and the level of cortisol, a stress hormone, 

decreases. 

A meta-analysis of five different studies concluded that AAI has the potential to 

significantly reduce depressive symptoms.v In addition, a review of studies focusing on 

the health and mental benefits of interactions with companion animals found positive 

improvements in quality of life for people struggling with depression and anxiety.vi 

Additionally, a study published just last year found that people were more socially 

connected as a result of having companion animals and that such connections helped 

build strong social support systems. vii This is especially relevant because social isolation 

may be associated with PTSD. 

When you combine these documented therapeutic effects with the trained 

actions of a service dog, you get a powerful combination that can make a real impact for 

veterans. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations recognize this, and 

includes service dogs for PTSD in their definition of service animals: 

4 
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KING-6430 with DISTILLERInsert offset folio 24 here 23642.024

"Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or 

perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include 

guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, 

alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with 

mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic 

Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties." 

States increasingly recognize the need to update definitions of service animals to 

include mental disabilities as well. Last year, the State of Florida passed a law to 

expand the protection of its service animal statute to include traumatic brain injury and 

PTSD. 

The inclusion of these protections allow veterans who have a disability that may 

not be outwardly visible to have access to public accommodations with their service 

dogs. Service dog access is especially important because symptoms of PTSD can often 

manifest themselves in public. While pets and therapy animals can provide some of the 

benefits I have just described, a service dog that is trained to perform specific actions 

and has full public access can provide effective animal-assisted interventions whenever 

and wherever they are needed. 

H.R. 4764 also calls for veterans to "see a physician who is a primary care 

provider or mental health care provider at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical 

facility at least quarterly." It is worth noting that doctors are familiar with and supportive 

5 
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KING-6430 with DISTILLERInsert offset folio 25 here 23642.025

of animal-assisted interventions. In 2014, HABRI commissioned a survey of 1 ,000 

general practitioners and found that 69% of doctors have worked with animals in a 

hospital, medical center, or medical practice. 88% of doctors saw improvement in 

patients' physical conditions and 97% saw improvement in patients' mental health 

conditions as a result of interaction with animals. These numbers indicate that doctors 

are likely to be supportive partners in this important program. 

To conclude, a growing body of research demonstrates widespread positive 

mental health impacts from the human-animal bond that should be taken into 

consideration when shaping public health policy, both in relation to H.R. 4764 and 

beyond. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to be here today and I hope that the 

members of the Subcommittee will rely on HABRI as a resource. With PTSD affecting 

more than 250,000 post 9-11 war veterans, VA support for service animals is the best 

way to ensure that every veteran with PTSD has access to the beneficial impact of the 

human-animal bond. HR 4764 is a strong step in the right direction, and HABRI offers 

its full support for this pilot program. 

I would also like to thank you, Chairman DeSantis, for your service, your 

leadership and your commitment to supporting our veterans. 

I am happy to answer any questions you may have. 

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i Service Dogs, A Rule by the Veterans Affairs Department, Federal Register. 

September 5, 2012. Web. <https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/09/05/2012-

21784/service-dogs#h-1 0>. 

ii O'Haire ME, Guerin NA and Kirkham AC. "Animal-Assisted Intervention for trauma: a 

systematic literature review." Front. Psycho/. 6:1121. (2015). Web. 1 Apr. 2016. 

<http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/1 0.3389/fpsyg.2015.01121/full>. 

iii Hosey, Geoff, and Vicky Melfi. "Human-Animal Interactions, Relationships and Bonds: 

A Review and Analysis of the Literature."lnternational Journal of Comparative 

Psychology 27.1 (2014): 117-47. EScholarship. University of California, 2014. Web. 1 

Apr. 2016. <http://eprints.cdlib.org/uc/item/6955n8kd#page-1 >. 

'' Beetz, Andrea et al. "Psychosocial and Psychophysiological Effects of Human-Animal 

Interactions: The Possible Role of Oxytocin." Frontiers in Psychology 3 (2012): 234. 

PMC. Web. 4 Apr. 2016. 

v Souter, Megan A., and Michelle D. Miller. "Do Animal-Assisted Activities Effectively 

Treat Depression? A Meta-Analysis." Anthrozoos 20.2 (2007): 167-80. Taylor Francis 

Online. Toutledge, 28 Apr. 2015. Web. 1 Apr. 2016. <http://patastherapeutas.org/wpcontenUuploads/2015/0 7/Depressa%CC%83oMetaAnalise. pdf>. 

vi Walsh, Froma. "Human-Animal Bonds 1: The Relational Significance of Companion 

Animals." Family Process 48.4 (2009): 462-80. Research Gate. Center for Family 

Health, University of Chicago, Dec. 2009. Web. 1 Apr. 2016. 

<https://www.researchgate.neUpublication/40023863_HumanAnimai_Bonds_l_ The_Relational_ Significance_ of_ Companion_Animals>. 

'"Wood L, Martin K, Christian H, Nathan A, Lauritsen C, Houghton S, et al. (2015) The 

Pet Factor- Companion Animals as a Conduit for Getting to Know People, Friendship 

Formation and Social Support. PLoS ONE 10(4): e0122085. 

doi:1 0.1371/journal.pone.0122085 

7 
41 

Mr. DESANTIS. Thank you. I thank the witnesses. The chair now 

recognizes himself for 5 minutes. 

Dr. Fallon, so why does the reject pairing veterans suffering from 

PTS with service dogs? 

Mr. FALLON. We don’t, Mr. Chairman. VA is thrilled that service 

dogs help veterans. It’s just, as a large medical organization, we 

have to rely on evidence-based medicine. The veteran population is 

very heterogenous. What helps one veteran is not going to help all. 

We have to —— 

Mr. DESANTIS. Have any of the preliminary results that have 

been pointed to by the witnesses at Purdue or any of those, has 

that changed any of the thinking within the VA? 

Mr. FALLON. Well, Mr. Chairman, I would point out that in the 

publication that was funded by HABRI, Dr. O’Hare published in 

2015, one of her main conclusions was that more research needs to 

be done. That’s right out of the paper. She also documented a number of deficiencies in the literature. She also was quoted in Military 

Times article on her work that nonbiased research needed to be 

completed. This was in 2015. 

Mr. DESANTIS. So that said, so the VA’s approach to PTS, is it 

fair to say that it relies heavily on pharmaceuticals? 

Mr. FALLON. I’m a veterinarian, Mr. Chairman. I couldn’t —— 

Mr. DESANTIS. But you are not familiar with how these veterans—so basically, you are just here as a veterinarian. You don’t 

have as much knowledge on just PTS generally? 

Mr. FALLON. No, Mr. Chairman. My role here is to update you 

on our study. I certainly would not pretend to be an expert in 

human clinical medicine. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Okay. Well, because I think all the indications we 

have received from witnesses, from veterans are that, you know, 

you get counseling, you get drugs. I mean, that is kind of the two 

things. And that is effective for some people, but there are other 

people, and I think Cole Lyle is one, that will say but that is not 

good. So maybe you can’t answer this, but are there dangers associated with providing veterans opioids and other pharmaceuticals to 

deal with PTS? 

Mr. FALLON. I couldn’t comment on that, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Okay. Well, what would you say to that, Mr. Diamond? 

Mr. DIAMOND. If you look at the Wikipedia entry for some of 

these opiates, they clearly set down an entire list of side effects, including increased suicide. In our opinion, a dog is not going to 

cause any harm, and yet we see every single month our classes, the 

warriors are transforming. They come in and they’re a wreck. 

They’re overmedicated, they are lost, they are frightened just to 

have left their homes. 

And we see them over 3 weeks working with our staff, working 

with their service dog as that bond kicks in, that they become different people. And they are able to go out the front door again. 

They’re able to go to a store again. They’re able to go to the beach 

in Florida again. And these are things that they could not do without their service dog. It opens the door. It lowers barriers to even 

getting other help. They become more like the people they were before they went off to war. 


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Mr. DESANTIS. Mr. Feldman, can you—the opioids, I mean, is 

there a danger of side effects with that? Is that accurate to say that 

that is the case? 

Mr. FELDMAN. I think pretty much everyone knows that, but I 

do want to respond to something that Dr. Fallon said. 

You know, we’re here in Washington and so we’ve—there’s a lot 

of people who do regulations. You’re never going to meet a regulator who says we have enough regulations. You’re never going to 

meet a researcher who says we have enough research. So of course 

we need to continue to do more research, and that’s what we’re 

funding right now. But when you add it all up, we really do think 

there’s enough research to substantiate this program. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Has there been any research that substantiates 

dangerous side effects with pairing a veteran with a service dog? 

Mr. FELDMAN. No, sir. There is in fact an absence of that evidence. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Cole Lyle, have you had any negative side effects 

since you have been paired with your service dog? 

Mr. LYLE. That’s a strong negative, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. DESANTIS. So, I mean, I think we all agree that veteran suicides are a major problem. We need to do everything we can to prevent them. And I think it makes sense that the VA should explore 

all possible ways that this can be dealt with. And I understand 

that there may not—that, you know, people can say, well, we need 

more literature, but, you know, we have enough evidence there 

that I think it is something that is long overdue. 

Let me ask you this, Mr. Feldman. How is the VA’s opposition 

to providing service dogs harm veterans with PTS? 

Mr. FELDMAN. Well, I guess I’ll just speak as a citizen on this 

one. I just don’t think the words veteran and waiting list sort of 

belong in the same sentence. And while, you know, K9s for Warriors and other organizations like it are doing their best to put as 

many paws on the ground as they possibly can, the only way we’re 

really going to get this done is if we have the VA providing that 

kind of support. 

Mr. DESANTIS. What about Mr. Diamond? What is your judgment 

about the VA’s posture? How has that affected veterans? 

Mr. DIAMOND. It’s cost lives. There’s no question that there are 

thousands of veteran suicides that could have been prevented had 

they had the access to a service dog. 

Mr. DESANTIS. And Cole Lyle, I know you have been involved in 

advocacy on this issue. You have gone through the halls of Congress and spoken with people. What has been the reception from 

Members of Congress and on both sides of the aisle so far? 

Mr. LYLE. Mr. Chairman, the response has been overwhelmingly 

supportive. We have bipartisan support on H.R. 4764. This is not 

a partisan issue. Everybody knows that we need to take care of our 

veterans. Of course, we have different ideas about how to go about 

that, but I personally walking the halls of Congress and speaking 

with Democrats, Republicans, conservatives, liberals, everybody 

agrees that this is a good idea and that we should do it. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Well, you have done a very good job. You know, 

as this bill progresses and we have success, some of these guys on 


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K Street may be coming after you, like I say, your success and 

work in Congress. 

And, Mr. Diamond, I think K9s for Warriors has done a great 

job. It is a part of the district that I am privileged to represent. 

And I know you guys have expanded and you are there to help, 

but, I mean, you can only do so much. I mean, I wish you guys 

could just have unlimited numbers. You know, so you guys are part 

of it, but I think we need to have a broader awareness here. 

But I appreciate all the witnesses for their testimony, and I 

thank you guys for coming. 

And I now recognize the ranking member Mr. Lynch. 

Mr. LYNCH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Just for the record, we had some hearings over in the Senate on 

veterans and opiod addiction. And this is a 2015 hearing. And in 

response to questions around opiod disorder by Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana, VA indicated that about 68,000 veterans in 2015 

had opiod use disorders. I think it represents about 13 percent of 

the total population of veterans currently taking opioids according 

to the VA. If 68,000 have opiod use disorders and that is 13 percent 

of the veterans on opioids, that is a huge, huge problem. 

A couple of the witnesses have mentioned the cost. And we just 

had an opportunity to go to Iraq last week, Anbar Province, and 

they had a couple of dogs they had trained, but those are trained 

for bomb detection. But I asked. I asked the DOD. I said what does 

it cost for us to train a dog in that context? And they said $55,000 

each. But that is DOD. You know, I am not surprised that the private sector is doing it for a heck of a lot less. And that is probably 

apples and oranges. They get trained for something particularly 

different. 

But, Mr. Lyle, first of all, thank you for your courageous service 

to our country and you are helping veterans still. That $10,000 

that you mentioned, is that what it cost you to —— 

Mr. LYLE. Yes, sir. That’s what it cost me to acquire Kaya, to pay 

for her training and all initial veterinary care for her. I would note that $10,000 —— 

Mr. LYNCH. Is that acquisition as well when you —— 

Mr. LYLE. Yes. Yes. 

Mr. LYNCH. Yes? Okay. 

Mr. LYLE. I would note that $10,000 is, quite frankly, cheap —— 

Mr. LYNCH. Yes. Yes. 

Mr. LYLE.—for —— 

Mr. LYNCH. Well, the life of the dog and the benefit that it conveys, you are right, absolutely. 

Mr. LYLE. Well, the $10,000, I would pay it 10 more times if I 

had to do it over again. 

Mr. LYNCH. Don’t let the DOD hear you say that. 

Mr. LYLE. Yes, I mean—but it has paid dividends in how I’m able 

to overcome specific symptoms associated with military experience, 

and I would recommend it highly to anybody who feels as though 

opiates and traditional therapies just aren’t working for them. 

Mr. LYNCH. Okay. Thank you. 

Mr. DIAMOND AND MR. Feldman, Mr. Diamond first, 17,000 

square feet—I am not sure—you mentioned your facility down in 

Florida. And obviously, there are efficiencies of scale because you 


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are training so many dogs. How many dogs do you probably train 

at a time? 

Mr. DIAMOND. Right now we have at capacity for about 30 dogs 

on our campus. 

Mr. LYNCH. Wow. 

Mr. DIAMOND. In a couple of months we’ll have capacity for about 

60. 

Mr. LYNCH. Okay. And what do you see in terms of the costs of 

you, you know, more professionally, you know, doing it 30 times at 

a whack? What do you see your costs on average? 

Mr. DIAMOND. Well, we’re finally seeing economies of scale. Two 

years ago we were about in the 40s. This past year we were at 

about $32,000; this year, $27,000; and then we expect next year for 

the entire 3-week program plus all the, you know, lifetime wraparound services to be about $22-$23,000. So we’ve finally hit economies of scale. 

And I would echo Mr. Lyle’s comments. We think that it’s a savings to the government with the reduction in use of prescription 

drugs, reduction in use of VA services generally speaking, and just 

merely the higher quality of life, the better human being you get 

at the end of it —— 

Mr. LYNCH. Yes. 

Mr. DIAMOND.—is a huge cost-savings for the country. 

Mr. LYNCH. Yes. And what is the lifespan, the average lifespan 

of one of the dogs? 

Mr. DIAMOND. It’s between 8 and 12 years —— 

Mr. LYNCH. So 10 years —— 

Mr. DIAMOND.—so depending on —— 

Mr. LYNCH.—you know, yes. Mr. Lyle, you had something else? 

Mr. LYLE. Congressman Lynch, I would note that 8 to 10 years— 

Kaya started helping me within weeks. 

Mr. LYNCH. Yes. 

Mr. LYLE. It does not take 8 to, you know, 12 years for these 

dogs to really assist veterans. 

Mr. LYNCH. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, they are training her 

throughout that 10 years or so, so that is the service that is being 

rendered. You divide the cost of training and acquisition over the 

10 years. You amortize it, I guess. 

Mr. Feldman, do you have anything else you would like to add? 

Mr. FELDMAN. Well, you mentioned cost. I can tell you that the 

pilot study, looking at 137 veterans, which we announced the funding for last year and which will be completed next month and probably published later this year, that whole study cost just upwards 

of $50,000, and we’re getting results, you know, within a 2-year period. And so, yes, we need to do more research, but it doesn’t have 

to take that long or cost that much. 

Mr. LYNCH. Yes. You know, you see the number of veterans that 

we are treating with opioids, and there is just no happy ending 

there with the addiction rate we have, so we have got to try something different. 

My time is expired. Thank you for your indulgence, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. DESANTIS. I thank the gentleman. 


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And the chair now recognizes the vice chairman of the committee, Mr. Russell, for 5 minutes. 

Mr. RUSSELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you each for 

being here today. 

Dr. Fallon, I noticed that you served in the military. Thank you 

for your service. 

Mr. FALLON. Sure. 

Mr. RUSSELL. When you did serve, you served in a veterinary capacity, as I understand it, is that correct? 

Mr. FALLON. Yes, sir, I was a veterinary technician. 

Mr. RUSSELL. In that time in your service did you develop a bond 

with the animals under your care? 

Mr. FALLON. Oh, absolutely, sir, yes. 

Mr. RUSSELL. And would you say that now as a doctor of veterinary medicine do you develop a nurturing bond with the animals 

in your care? 

Mr. FALLON. Absolutely, sir. 

Mr. RUSSELL. Okay. Do you see dangers associated with pairing 

service dogs with veterans? 

Mr. FALLON. Well, as the chairman mentioned, I have seen problems with dogs, particularly dogs that are not properly trained. For 

instance, we had those two children that were bitten, which was 

a tragedy, certainly didn’t help those veterans. Also, there are some 

things to take into consideration. If a dog becomes sick, ends up 

with a chronic illness, there can be huge veterinary bills associated. 

The veteran can actually become quite depressed. We’ve seen this 

anecdotally —— 

Mr. RUSSELL. And how would you compare that, say, with veterans suffering from opiod abuse, harming their families, their own 

children —— 

Mr. FALLON. I —— 

Mr. RUSSELL.—maybe harming others around them and getting 

in a depressed state? Which would you say is more of a danger? 

Mr. FALLON. I couldn’t comment on that, sir. Again, I’m a veterinarian. I mean, clearly, all those things are terrible things, though. 

Mr. RUSSELL. Do you personally believe veterans would be 

harmed by their care and association with service dogs? 

Mr. FALLON. I do not know the answer to that question. I’m a— 

I’m —— 

Mr. RUSSELL. But you have a lot of experience here, Dr. Fallon. 

I mean, you served in the military —— 

Mr. FALLON. I do, sir —— 

Mr. RUSSELL.—dealing with animals, you are a doctor of veterinary medicine. You have handled a lot of animals in your life. You 

have done extensive research and study. I just want to know, since 

you came as an expert testifying before Congress, I am just curious 

of your personal opinion. 

Mr. FALLON. I’m reluctant to give my —— 

Mr. RUSSELL. Do you personally believe —— 

Mr. FALLON.—personal opinion. 

Mr. RUSSELL.—veterans would be harmed by their care and association with service dogs? 


KING-6430 with DISTILLER
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Mr. FALLON. I’m reluctant to give my personal opinion, sir, because it could affect the study, it could bias the study, so I would 

prefer not to do that. 

Mr. RUSSELL. Well, I think that that is telling. And I appreciate 

you for being loyal to Veterans Administration, but I think we have 

a greater responsibility as a nation to be loyal to our combat veterans and those that have suffered a great deal. I have handled the 

flesh and blood of battle on many battlefields to include Iraq and 

Afghanistan. As a combat infantryman, I have dealt with a lot of 

the issues that we are discussing here today. 

As a veterans advocate before entering a career in politics, I 

guess if you call it a career, I have even assisted and helped place 

service dogs with veterans and seen dramatic results. You know, 

whether that is a placebo effect or whether it is reality, I can tell 

you that the results have been remarkable. 

But here is what I also know. Opiod abuse is a tragic indictment 

on the Veterans Administration. I would also tell you that many 

veteran suicides, I think, are misdiagnosed. It is not unlikely for 

a soldier maybe to drink a beer, but now he is prescribed on 

OxyContin or Percocet, he diminishes himself to a very low state, 

he doesn’t breathe anymore, and then the family finds him in the 

morning, is like, well, gee, Russell didn’t have any indication that 

he had any problems. In fact, he was talking about going fishing 

this weekend and now he is dead. And they chalk him up as a suicide. 

Here, we have an opportunity to go a great deal of good with 

very low risk, and if the price of that is two dog bites, I think we 

can do that. 

And I also think that the expense of a dog is far cheaper than 

years and years and years of opiod addiction. We are legalizing 

heroin in this country, and we are using our veterans as the number one scientific lab of opiod abuse. It really angers me. 

And I have been prescribed Percocet and OxyContin, floated 

around for several days, and I will tell you this, I quit cold turkey, 

too, on it because I would rather have a clear head and pain than 

deal with a drug addiction and depression. 

I think we are not being intellectually honest here today. And 

whether Dr. Crowe would like to give his, you know, professional 

opinion if you can’t speak to the medical side, or yourself, give me 

one good reason why we should not implement this absent the already-given opinion of further study? 

Mr. FALLON. Dr. Crowe, would you like to —— 

Mr. CROWE. Yes, I’d be happy to. 

Mr. DESANTIS. If you would stand and just raise your right hand. 

Can you stand? 

[Witness sworn.] 

Mr. DESANTIS. Okay. The witness answered in the affirmative. 

Mr. CROWE. Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, the ranking 

member, and the committee. 

Mr. RUSSELL. If you could use your microphone, sir, and thank 

you for being here today. 

Mr. CROWE. I push this? Okay. 

Thank you very much for the question. 


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First of all, I think we are mistakenly confusing a couple of 

issues. Opioids are not used to treat PTSD. A lot of folks with 

PTSD also have chronic pain conditions, and they may have started 

opioids to treat the pain, but opioids are not used by VA to treat 

PTSD. 

We also monitor prescribing practices and send in experts to facilities where we think there’s some mis-practice going on in an attempt to correct it. 

We also—as you may know, we have the opiod rescue kits that 

now are being put in the hands of every veteran who’s been prescribed opioids. 

This is also a very personal issue for me. My sister died of an 

unintended opiod overdose, so I take this very seriously. But it’s 

not part of our PTSD discussion. 

Mr. RUSSELL. Well, and I appreciate that, and thank you, sir, for 

your insight. With your indulgence —— 

Mr. DESANTIS. Before you do your next question, can you just 

state your full name for the record so we have it? 

Mr. CROWE. Dr. Chris Crowe. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Okay. Thank you. And your title? 

Mr. CROWE. Senior mental health consultant and liaison to the 

Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and TBI. 

Mr. RUSSELL. And thank you. And I appreciate your patience 

with being put on the spot, but I understand you did come here as 

well today. 

Look, this is a real issue, and I don’t believe anybody sitting out 

here or up here doesn’t have concern and care to do the right 

things. But would you also in your professional opinion acknowledge that those that deal more than likely with PTSD issues are 

also liable to be suffering from some sort of pain due to their service? So these two are associated together. Would you agree with 

that? 

Mr. CROWE. Not necessarily. You know, I think they co-occur in 

many people. Folks who’ve been deployed, you know, have many 

opportunities for injury and come back with lots of musculoskeletal 

pain. Those also tend to be folks who’ve been exposed to trauma 

and may develop posttraumatic stress disorder. But opioids are 

never used to treat PTSD. 

Mr. RUSSELL. Well, and I will take you at your word for that, but 

I will also, you know, absolutely put it to you that people suffering 

from PTSD are often drugged in a great deal of medications, you 

know, with a basket-load of issues and problems, and being good 

soldiers or sailors or airmen or marines, they take their medications. They follow the doctor’s orders. 

Well, Mr. Chairman, I have exceeded my time, but I would like 

to say these programs, there is far more evidence that they work 

than they don’t, and there is an awful lot of evidence that we are 

not doing a very good job with our treatment of PTSD and that we 

have a lot of veteran suicides, I believe personally, just from observation—I only come as a combat veteran; I am not a doctor. You 

know, I have just fought for a living. And so what I would tell you 

is we are not meeting those types of issues, and we are trying to 

drug our veterans, send them off to some clinic rather than get 

them engaged in something productive. 


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And with your indulgence, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield 

back my time. 

Mr. DESANTIS. The gentleman’s time is expired. 

The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Hice, 

for 5 minutes. And we are going to have Dr. Fallon come back and 

resume his spot on the witness stand. 

Mr. HICE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

Dr. Fallon, do you have any idea how the VA is recruiting qualified veterans for this study? 

Mr. FALLON. The veteran participants, sir, the folks that are actually —— 

Mr. HICE. Correct. 

Mr. FALLON. Yes, sir. They’re recruited through each of the three 

medical centers through fliers and presentations to mental health 

clinicians. 

Mr. HICE. Okay. Is there currently a waiting list of qualified veterans who would like to participate? 

Mr. FALLON. There is a waiting list at one of our sites, the Portland, Oregon, site, because we’ve had particular problems in recruiting qualified dog trainers for that site. However, we now have 

one trainer that has—that is on—is working now. 

Mr. HICE. How large is the waiting list? 

Mr. FALLON. I cannot say for sure. I would say it’s probably in 

the range of maybe 20 people perhaps. 

Mr. HICE. And this is at one facility or —— 

Mr. FALLON. One facility, yes, sir. 

Mr. HICE. Okay. So are you saying that the personnel at VA 

medical centers are aware of this study and are actively engaged 

in informing veterans of the potential of having a service dog? 

Mr. FALLON. Yes, I would definitely say that. It’s a very popular 

topic of interest with our veterans. 

Mr. HICE. Does the VA currently have any way to gauge the demand for the service dogs? 

Mr. FALLON. We do not, sir. We do not have a method of gauging 

demand for service dogs. 

Mr. HICE. Is that under consideration? 

Mr. FALLON. That would be outside of my purview, sir. I couldn’t 

say. 

Mr. HICE. Mr. Diamond, let me come to you. How are qualified 

veterans referred to your organization? 

Mr. DIAMOND. We’ve never advertised for a veteran to come to 

our organization. They find us through word-of-mouth through the 

very tight veteran community. But when the veteran applies to us, 

we have a 22-page application. We do interviews, criminal background checks. We do a thorough vetting process. So by the time 

the veteran comes to our campus, perhaps a year after they applied, we know a bevy about them and are ready to bring them into 

our program. 

Mr. HICE. So you don’t do any advertising per se. It is all wordof-mouth? 

Mr. DIAMOND. Absolutely. If we advertised, we would get inundated. We are pushing a 2-year waitlist now. There’s —— 

Mr. HICE. All right. That is my point. That is where I was going. 

So the VA doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of information here. Of 


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49 

course, this has not been their program. But you are actively involved in providing service dogs to veterans, and you have a 2-year 

waiting list. I mean, do you have any way of gauging what the 

need is? 

Mr. DIAMOND. I wish we had the good measure, and I—and since 

I’m under oath, I’m not going to venture a guess. But I do know 

this for sure, that the number of veterans that are referred to us 

from the VA because a VA treating physician says I don’t have 

anything else that can help you is increasing every single day. 

Mr. HICE. Sure. Absolutely. 

Mr. Lyle, let me ask you—and first of all, thank you for your 

service and for your testimony. Both are powerful, and we deeply 

and in a heartfelt way say thank you for what you have done for 

our country. 

How did you find out that service dogs were an option for PTS? 

Mr. LYLE. So I actually had a personal friend of mine who had 

a service dog that he also had to acquire on his own and train. I’m 

not quite sure which organization he received his dog—well, where 

he got his dog trained. But I knew that that was something that 

was an option that veterans could utilize. And then when I went 

out to organizations, specifically, I went to organizations in Texas 

because that’s where I’m currently living. I got pretty much the 

same result, that wait times were at least a year. I didn’t feel as 

though I had that time to wait. 

Mr. HICE. Okay. So your introduction came through a personal 

friend? 

Mr. LYLE. That’s correct, sir. 

Mr. HICE. Okay. Mr. Diamond, let me come back to you, and my 

time is almost up. Twofold question, do you find that veterans 

struggle with affording service dogs as a general rule? And how 

does your organization enable them to pair up? 

Mr. DIAMOND. Well, two pieces to that, the first is that some of 

our veterans have reported back to us that they would rather make 

personal sacrifices than to not have—to forego having a service 

dog. But they do struggle. They’re on fixed incomes, and therefore, 

they do have difficulty paying for it. Most of the veterans that we 

get could not independently pay to get a service dog out on their 

own. 

So we’ve made a lot of partnerships with our corporate supporters. For example, Bayer Health is—put together a network of 

veterinarians to give free health care for the dogs. We’re trying to 

work with pet stores to get free dog food for the veterans. We do 

everything we can on the back end to make it free or almost free 

for the veteran. 

But the overwhelming message from them is they would forgo 

their own personal comfort to make sure that they have a service 

dog. 

Mr. HICE. Very good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. DESANTIS. I thank the gentleman. 

Mr. Lyle, what was your experience with the drugs? How did you 

get prescribed by the VA? 

Mr. LYLE. Well, again, Mr. Chairman, when I took the post-deployment health assessment, which was the preliminary—what 

they give you—I’m not sure the timeline but there is a timeline 


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that they’re—the VA is required to give that once you return stateside. I then went to a VA facility in Fort Worth and tried to use 

their system. I eventually met with a psychologist at the VA hospital in Fort Worth and was prescribed the sleep aids and the 

antidepressants. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Why did they do that? Was it because of your 

symptoms? 

Mr. LYLE. Correct. So I—when I returned, I was suffering from 

recurring nightmares and I would have acute anxiety attacks. I 

also just had difficulty with close interpersonal relationships. As I 

had mentioned previously, one of the side effects that goes largely 

unnoticed as a result of posttraumatic stress, there’s a high divorce 

rate amongst military members, but that also had affected me. I— 

it wasn’t the direct cause of the divorce, but it definitely did not 

help in any way, shape, or form. So it was affecting my personal 

relationships. 

The nightmares specifically, Kaya is trained to recognize when 

I’m having a nightmare, and she will jump up in bed and lick my 

face to wake me up, so that’s one of the ways that she has assisted 

me in my symptoms. 

And I would further note that a dog can give you a sense of purpose that a pill will just not ever do in the sense that there were 

many days I didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t have really anything to do like—as I said, I didn’t have a job at the time, wasn’t 

currently enrolled in school, and I didn’t have any reason to. But 

a service dog needs to be taken outside, they need to be fed, they 

give you a reason to get up and to be productive on a day-to-day 

basis and give you that small sense of purpose again that you can 

grow on. And again, I reiterate that that’s something that pills just 

did not do for me. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Because we had testimony before that this is not 

something the VA is doing, providing drugs, I mean, I guess do you 

disagree with what was said in your case? 

Mr. LYLE. Could you repeat the question, Mr. Chairman? 

Mr. DESANTIS. The previous witness to Mr. Fallon when we did 

the musical chairs said that that is not something—drugs for PTS 

are not something the VA does, but in your instance is that what 

they did or —— 

Mr. LYLE. Well, my issues as a result of posttraumatic stress, as 

I said, we recurring nightmares, and I got a sleep aid as a result 

of those nightmares so I would disagree with that. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Okay. And, Mr. Diamond, what—I mean, the bill 

that we have, if you are down to $22,000, that is even more than 

what we are doing, so that is good. So you are confident that you 

will be able to continue to reduce the costs of each dog? 

Mr. DIAMOND. Yes. I would hate for our donors to hear that, but 

yes, we have hit economies of scale sufficiently that our efficiencies 

are in the low $20s for next year. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Okay. Good. Mr. Feldman, I mean, I guess, what 

is your recommendation for making the case—you are familiar with 

the research that is going on. What more in Congress do we need 

to be finding and presenting or do you think that there is enough 

facts already in existence to justify moving forward? 


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Mr. FELDMAN. Well, we’re continuing to do research and we’ll 

come back and share the published research that we gave you a 

preview of today. A pilot program, as you’ve written into this bill, 

is a really good way to go because you’ve built in some evaluation, 

you’ve built in a report on that program as part of the legislation. 

So it’s a chance to continue studying but also to help a lot of folks, 

so that’s why we support it. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Great. Well, look, at the end of the day there has 

been a lot of anecdotal evidence. There is some evidence coming out 

in some of the literature. But here is the thing. I could understand 

why that would be a cautionary tale if there was somehow a negative side effect to this, but there is not. So the worst-case scenario 

that we are talking about is we have made some veterans happy 

with service dogs as companions. That is like the worst-case scenario. And obviously, if there is a positive effect, you are actually 

giving veterans a sense of purpose, and I believe saving lives. 

And I will just tell you, since we have been involved in this issue, 

I have had multiple veterans come up to me and tell me that they 

would have probably committed suicide but for being paired with 

a service dog. And so it is not often people look you in the eye and 

tell you that they probably would have done that, and so it really, 

really registers when you hear that. 

Mr. Lyle? 

Mr. LYLE. And, Mr. Chairman, I would also note that just being 

a veteran, any veteran will probably tell you that they have—any 

veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan will probably tell you that they either have a friend or a friend of a friend that has committed suicide and has been affected by this suicide epidemic. 

This study that was done by the VA I will also note back in 2013 

that indicated the 22-veteran-a-day average committing suicide, 

that study was based on 21 States. So the number tragically is 

higher than 22 veterans a day. That was just a side note. 

But I will also say since I’ve been doing this and, you know, I 

have been talking to Members of Congress, friends of mine specifically in Texas, because the cost barriers are so high to getting your 

own service dog—and many veterans join the military to get that 

family, that sense of community. When they get out, they don’t 

have it anymore. They don’t have the—you know, the family support that I had to financially support their endeavor. And then they 

get told that there are wait times over a year and they don’t feel 

like they have that time so they go out and they just get a dog. 

And I will note, as I believe it was Mr. Russell who had—Congressman Russell, who had said earlier that just being around a 

dog—Dr. Fallon, as a veterinarian, has said that he’s made personal connections with the animals that he’s been around, I would 

argue that if you don’t think or believe that a dog can be therapeutic and a service dog specifically can treat certain symptoms 

specific to their posttraumatic stress, then you probably have never 

owned or been around a dog. 

Mr. DESANTIS. I appreciate that. 

Did you want to go real quick? 

Mr. LYNCH. Sure. 

Mr. DESANTIS. I was going to recognize Mr. Hurd, but if you are 

going to go, I will just recognize you. 


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Mr. LYNCH. Sure. 

Mr. DESANTIS. All right. I am going to recognize the gentleman 

from Massachusetts. 

Mr. LYNCH. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The way this is structured under the chairman’s bill, the key relationship will be the VA and the contractor, if it is Mr. Diamond 

and K9s for Warriors or any other group. The 2016 VA report said 

that there was a problem with the VA not getting out to the contractor location where the training was going on or to the home of 

the veteran with the dog, and that broke down. Are we able to cure 

that defect in further studies, in the existing study —— 

Mr. FALLON. Yes —— 

Mr. LYNCH.—in —— 

Mr. FALLON.—Ranking Member —— 

Mr. LYNCH.—the pilot program? 

Mr. FALLON. Yes, absolutely. The problem was that we were relying on the service dog organization’s trainers to interact with our 

veterans, and that resulted in us not getting timely information 

about problems that had developed with the dog pairs, which is 

why we now have hired our own dog trainers. 

Mr. LYNCH. Okay. Thank you. 

Mr. DESANTIS. The chair now recognizes the gentleman from 

Texas, Mr. Hurd, for 5 minutes. 

And the votes have started, but we have got 13 minutes, and so 

Mr. Hurd, and then if there are other questions, we may have time 

for other members, too. 

You are recognized. 

Mr. HURD. Thank you, Chairman. 

And I would like to thank the distinguished gentleman from 

Florida for having this panel, and I would like to thank Mr. Lyle 

for being here. He is from my alma mater, Texas A&M University. 

Mr. LYLE. Gig ’em. 

Mr. HURD. Gig ’em Aggies—which has a long history of working 

with animals to improve the lives of humans, everything from 

Texas Task Force 1, which is one of the most active urban searchand-rescue teams. You have a student organization called Aggie 

Guide Dogs and Service Dogs, which promotes the use of service 

dogs. And we are also part of the TexVet Network, which includes 

the Operation K9. 

And, Mr. Lyle, first, I want to thank you for your service and 

dedication to the safety of Americans. As a former officer in the 

CIA, I had the honor of serving alongside members of the military. 

I am familiar with the sacrifices that you and your family make. 

And I know this is a life-changing experience and has inspired you 

to give back to your community, and I appreciate you for doing 

this. 

My first questions, though, are actually to Mr. Fallon. Has the 

VA reached out to any other organizations conducting similar studies? 

Mr. FALLON. After the difficulties we had with the pilot study, 

we did site visits of —— 

Mr. HURD. The pilot study from 2006? 

Mr. FALLON. The pilot study you started in 2011, sir —— 

Mr. HURD. Okay. 


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Mr. FALLON.—and was suspended finally in 2012. We realized we 

had to change our study protocol. We actually visited major organizations like Canine Companions for Independence in California 

—— 

Mr. HURD. So my question is actually—let’s start before that. 

Why did the VA decide to reinvent the wheel rather than relying 

on some, you know, other organizations that have a history in 

doing this kind of thing? 

Mr. FALLON. Well, for the pilot, sir, we relied up on the organizations themselves, all of which professed to be very experienced and 

to be able to produce high-quality dogs. And unfortunately, that did 

not turn out to be true. 

Mr. HURD. I don’t even know where to go. There are so many 

questions. Why not reach out to DOD and leverage some of the experience that they have? They have some world-class trainers and 

they have world-class activities using dogs for all kinds of services. 

Mr. FALLON. Admittedly, we were not familiar enough with the 

service dog community when we embarked on the pilot study. 

There’s no question that we’ve made mistakes. 

Mr. HURD. Say that again. Say that first part. 

Mr. FALLON. We were not adequately familiar with the service 

dog community and the pitfalls in that community when we embarked on our pilot study. There’s no question about that. 

Mr. HURD. So how much money did the VA spend in phase 1 to 

develop veterinary standards, which I have been told are not longer 

in use? 

Mr. FALLON. I am not sure the exact figure. It would be somewhere above $1 million, though, in the pilot study. 

Mr. HURD. Above $1 million or above $10 million? 

Mr. FALLON. No, $1 million, sir. The $12 million figure is for the 

entire phase 1 and phase 2 together. 

Mr. HURD. And could that money have been saved if the VA had 

initially adopted DOD’s veterinary standards? 

Mr. FALLON. No, sir, it wasn’t just the veterinary standards. It 

was—there were training standards involved and also follow-up by 

the organization’s dog trainers. All those things ended up to be a 

major problem. 

Mr. HURD. Now, you are in the chief veterinary medical offices, 

correct? 

Mr. FALLON. Yes, sir. 

Mr. HURD. What proposals have you suggested up the chain on 

how to make sure we incorporate this into the VA? 

Mr. FALLON. Into the study, sir, or into VA in a wider —— 

Mr. HURD. Into the VA so that more veterans could get access 

to this type of care? 

Mr. FALLON. Well, we were directed by Congress to do this study, 

sir, and that has been my focus is to do this research study. There 

are other portions of the VA that have —— 

Mr. HURD. What is the best next action? 

Mr. FALLON. To complete this study successfully. 

Mr. HURD. And what is the best next action there? What is the 

next step that you need to take in order to make sure this gets 

completed? 


KING-6430 with DISTILLER
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Mr. FALLON. Well, we are doing them now, sir. I mean, we have 

retooled and learned from our mistakes —— 

Mr. HURD. When is it going to be done? 

Mr. FALLON. Pardon me? 

Mr. HURD. When is it going to be done? 

Mr. FALLON. We expect the data collection to be complete by late 

2018, and then the paper would be published thereafter. 

Mr. HURD. Mr. Lyle, I have a little bit less than a minute, but 

you can go over a little bit if you so need. Hopefully, the chairman 

indulges my prerogative, anything that has not been discussed during this hearing today that you think is important to get out there? 

Mr. LYLE. Well, thank you, Congressman Hurd. 

I think it’s important to understand and to reiterate what I said, 

that a service dog not only will combat specific symptoms like Kaya 

does for me in waking me up from nightmares, et cetera, et cetera, 

but there is an effect that they give to you of providing a sense of 

purpose. And when veterans get out, they lose their military community, they lose their chain of command, they get their mission, 

their purpose ripped away from them very, very quickly. 

And there’s—nonprofits have done admirable work in trying to 

assist veterans transitioning, but they’re still struggling. And I 

think the main reason is that they lose their sense of purpose and 

they lose their mission. They don’t have anything driving them 

anymore. And I think a service dog also provides that. 

I will just further note very quickly that I’ve spent the last year 

doing this, trying to raise awareness about the issue, talk to Members of Congress, have been received very well, and it’s taken me 

a year to do this, funding all of this myself. We don’t have until 

late 2018 to have this study completed and then understand the results and then try to have a program initiated at that point. Twenty-two veterans a day are committing suicide. 

Anybody that is okay with that number—I wouldn’t say that 

anybody at the VA is okay with that number, but we have something that we know works. We have evidence that works now. And 

with 22 veterans a day committing suicide, I return to what I said 

in my opening statement. That is unconscionable that we don’t explore alternative methods of treatment. 

Mr. HURD. Mr. Lyle, thank you. 

Mr. Damon —— 

Mr. DIAMOND. Thank you. 

Mr. HURD. Mr. Diamond, excuse me, thank you for your service. 

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the time I do not have. 

Mr. DESANTIS. The gentleman’s time is expired. 

I would like to thank all of our witnesses for taking the time to 

appear before us today. 

If there is no further business, without objection, the subcommittee stands adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 3:20 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 


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APPENDIX 

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING RECORD


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AUTHt:NT!CArEl>? 

U $ CQV!':RNME~l 

INFORMATION 

CPO 

114m CONGRESS H R 4764 2D SESSION • • 

To dil·Pet the Secretary of V cteralls Affairs to carry out a pilot program 

to provide servit•e dogs to eertain w;tpr·aus with severe post-traumatie 

stress dis(mler. 

I~ THE HOUSE O.B' HEPRESENTATfVES 

J\!Lmcn 1G, 2016 

Mr. DESANTIS (for himself, Mr. HooNEY of Florida, l\lr. RoTHFD-l, :\Is. 

STEI<'A>IIK, Mr. NrGEN'r, Mr. \VEBER of Texas, .:\irs. ELLMERS of 1'\orth 

Carolina, l\Ir. :\IEADOWt->, :\Ir. BYHNE, :.Vir. BISHOP of :.Vliehigan, Mr. PLorms, Ms. JicSALJN, Mr .• Jou,Y, Mr. ,Jonl\SON of Georgia, .Mr. SAJ,wm, 

Ms. GABBAHD, all(t :.Vis. SINE~L\) introdneed the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee 011 Veterans' Affair·s 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 

a pilot progTam to pro-dde seni.ce dogs to certain veterans with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and Ilouse of Repr-esenta2 tives ofthe United States ofAmerica in Conuress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Aet may be citect as the "Puppies Assisting 

5 Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) Act of 2016". 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress rnakes the follo-vving findings: 
57 


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2 

( 1) An estimated 14 percent of members of the 

2 Armed Forces returning from active duty service in 

3 support of Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation 

4 l<Jnduring Freedom suffer from post-traumatic stress 

5 disord(~r. 

6 (2) The resulting h:r11erstimulation of the fight7 flight-freeze response associated with post-traumatic 

8 stress disorder poses a threat to the successful soci9 eta! reintegTation of such members of the Armed 

10 Forces. 

11 (3) .A.nimals such as dogs can buffer this stress 

12 response when humans fail to provide social support. 

13 ( 4) Interaction with dogs has been shown to 

14 modulate symptoms of post-traumatic stress dis15 order, such as arLxiety, including fear response and 

16 h;nJcrarousal, interpersonal difficulties, social isola17 tion, physical pain, and sleep disturbances. 

18 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM ON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

19 AFFAIRS PROVISION OF SERVICE DOGS TO 

20 CERTAIN VETERANS WITH SEVERE POST21 TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER. 

22 (a) IK GEl\EP.AL.-The Secretary of Veterans M23 fairs, acting through the Office of Patient Centered Care 

24 and Cultural Transformation, shall carry out a pilot pro25 gram under which the Secretary shall proYide to elig·ible 

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3 

veterans vdth service dogs. The provision of a service dog· 

2 under the pilot progTam shall be done in addition to other 

3 types of treatment provided for post-traumatic stress dis4 order and shall not replace established treatment modali5 ties. 'l'he Sceretary of Veterans Affairs shall furnish vet6 crinary health insurance for each dog provided under the 

7 pilot progTam. 

8 (b) EUGIBILITY.-

9 (1) INITIAL ELIGIBIUTY.-To be eligible for a 

10 serYwe dog· under the pilot progTam a wteran 

11 shall12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

(A) be diagnosed with post-traumatic 

stress disorder rated at a severity level of three 

or four on the Clinician-Administered PTSD 

Scale for DS:\f-5 (CAPS-5); 

(B) haxe been treated and have completed 

an established ev'idenee-hased treatment and remain significantly symptomatic, as evidenced by 

the Global Assessment of Functioning or a 

similar clinical metric; 

(C) haw sen·eil on actiYe duty in the 

Armed I<'orc~es on or after September 11, 2001; 

and 

(D) have not experienced satisfactory improycment in post-traumatic stress disorder 

•HR 4764 IH 
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4 

1 symptoms after being· treated with established 

2 evidence-hasecl therapies. 

3 (2) O~GOING ELIGIBILITY.-To remam eligible 

4 to receiYe canine health insmance furnished by the 

5 Department of Veterans lurairs, a veteran shall see 

6 a physician who is a primary care provider or mental 

7 health care provider at a Department of Veterans 

8 .Affairs medical facility at least quarterly. 

9 (e) CoKTIL\C'l' AnTIIORITY.-

10 (1) I?\ GE?\ERAL.-In carrying out the pilot 

11 program under this section, the Secretary shall enter 

12 into such contracts as may be necessary for the pro13 curement anc1 training of service clogs with appro14 priate proYiders that are eertified by Assistance 

15 Dogs International m· a similar organization that16 (A) on average, provides one-on-one train17 ing for each service canine for a minimnm of 30 

18 hours over at least 90 days including a wellness 

19 Yerifieation from a licensed n~teriuarian; 

20 (B) provides an in-house residential facility 

21 in which service dog· recipients stay for a min22 imum of ten days while reeeiYing· at least 30 

23 hours of training with their new service canine; 

24 (C) ensures all service canines pass the 

25 American Kennel Clnb Canine Good Citizen 

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5 

test prior to permanent plaeement vvith a reeipi2 ent; and 

3 (D) JWOYides follow-up support sernce for 

4 the life of the service canine. 

5 (2) IlBII'rATION.-The Secretary may not obli6 g-ate or expend more than $27,000 for the procure7 ment and training of any dog under a contract en8 tercel into under this subsection. 

9 (d) GAO STUDY.-Not later than 180 days after the 

10 termination of the pilot program under this section, the 

11 Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 

12 Congress a report on the pilot program. Such report shall 

13 inelude14 (1) au evaluation of the effectiveness of the 

15 pilot progTam with respect to16 (A) helping Yeteraus with severe post-trau17 matie stress disorder live normally; 

18 (B) relevant metrics, including reduction in 

19 metrics such as reduction in scores under tlw 

20 post-traumatic stress disorder checklist (PCL), 

21 improvement in psychosocial function, and 

22 therapeutie eomplianee; 

23 (C) lessening the symptoms of post-tnm24 matic stress disorder; and 

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(D) reducing the dependence of partiei2 pants on prescription narcotics and psycho3 tropic medication; and 

4 (2) the recommemlations of the Comptroller 

5 General with respect to the continuation or expan6 siou of the program. 

7 (e) AUTHORIZATIO~ OF Al'PROPRIATIONS.-There is 

8 authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2017 

9 through 2022 $10,000,000 to earry out the pilot program 

10 under this section. 

11 (f) OFPSET.-The amounts otherwise authorized to 

12 be approprinted for Department of Veterans Affairs Office 

13 of Human Resources and Administration for each of fiscal 

14 years 2017 through 2022 shall he redueed by 

15 $10,000,000. 

16 (g) TERl\II:\ATIO~.-The authority to carry out a 

17 pilot program under this seetion shall terminate on the 

18 date that is five :vears after the date of the enactment of 

19 this Act. 

0 

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AUTHCNTIC.ATCO;;?""" 

\J $ GOVERI':!>.·IE:N'I 

INf'liRMATJ():'\l 

CPO 

114TH CONGI~ESS 2 93 

1ST SESSIO:\' H R 4 • • 

To e~tnblish a gTant progrnm to encourage the nse of assistanee dogs by 

cert<lin members of the Armed Forces and yeterans. 

I::\1 THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

lVLI.Y 21, 2015 

l\1r. McG<W1mx (for himself, l\Ir. SCIIIPF, Mr. PocAx, :.VIs. CLAHim of New 

York, l\Is. CJ.c:illK of l\Iassaehnsetts, :VIr. GRI.L\LVA, l\Ir. NElli,, Mr. 

LII'Ii\'~KI, l\Is. TSOXGAS, l\k DEFAZIO, l\k llA~TI:\'GS, l\k DEu\NEY, 

:VIs. TITus, :VIr. CLEA\'Jm, :\Is. :VIoorm, Mr. QITI<TLEY, and Mr. HoxDA) 

introdneed the following· hill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Armed Seniees, and in addition to tltt' Committee ou Veterans' Affairs, 

for a period to be subsequently determine<! b~· the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of snch provisions as fall within the jnrisdiction of the 

eommitteP coneerncd 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to encourage the use of assistance dogs by certain members of the Armed Forces 

and Yeterans. 

1 Be it enacted by the Sen.ate and House of Representa2 tt:ves qf' the United Staff's qf'Amm·ica in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the "\Vounded \Varrior 

5 Sel'vice Dog Act of 2015". 
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2 

SEC. 2. WOUNDED WARRIOR K-9 CORPS. 

2 (a) GRA.'\''l'S Au·rHORIZED.-Subjeet to the avail3 ability of appropriations provided for such purpose, the 

4 Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Af5 fairs shall jointly establish a progTam, to be known as the 

6 "K-9 Companion Corps Program", to avvard eompetitive 

7 grants to nonprofit organizations to assist such organiza8 tions in the planning, designing·, establishing, or operating 

9 (or any eombination thereof) of programs to provide as-

] 0 sistauee dogs to e(wered members and vetera11s. 

11 (b) USE OF FUl\'DS.-

12 (1) Il\' GENEllAL.-The reeipient of a grant 

13 under this seetion shall use the ~!:rant to carry out 

14 programs that provide assistance dogs to covered 

15 members and veterans who have a disability de16 scribed in paragmph (2). 

17 (2) DIS"\BILI'l'Y.-A disability deseribed in this 

18 para1,rraph is any of the following: 

19 (A) Blindness or visual impairment. 

20 (B) Loss of use of a limb, paralysis, or 

21 other signifieant mobility issues. 

22 (C) Loss of hearing. 

23 (D) 'l'raumatie brain ir\jury. 

24 (E) Post-traumatic stress disorder. 

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3 

(F) Any other diRability that the Secretary 

2 of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Af3 fairs consider appropriate. 

4 (3) Tnnl'\G m' AWAHD.-The Secretaries may 

5 not award a grant under this section to reimburse 

6 a recipient for costs previously incurred by the re7 cipient in eanying out a program to provide assistS ance dogs to covered members and Yeterans unless 

9 the recipient elect!'> for the award to be sneh a reim1 0 lmrsement. 

11 (e) EUGIBILITY.-'l'o be eligible to receive a grant 

12 under this section, a nonprofit organization shall submit 

13 an application to the Secretary of Defense and the Sec14 retary of Veterans Affairs at such time, in such manner, 

15 and containing such information as the Secretary of De16 feuse and the Secretary of Veterans Mfairs may require. 

17 Snch application shall indnde18 ( 1) a proposal for the evaluation required by 

19 subsection (d); and 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

(2) a description of-

(A) the training that will be prmided by 

the organization to covered members and veterans; 

(B) the training of dogs that will serYe as 

assistance dogs; 

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2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

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8 

9 

10 

11 

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(C) the aftercare senTJees that the organization will provide for such dogs anrl covered 

members and veterans; 

(D) the plan for publicizing the availability 

of such dogs throug'h a targeted marketing 

eampaig11 to covered members and veterans; 

(E) the recognized expertise of the organization in breeding and training' such dogs; 

(F) the commitment of the organization to 

comparable standards as that of the International Guide Dog F'ederation or Assistance 

Dog·s International; 

(G) the commitment of the organization to 

humane standards for animals; and 

(H) the eA.1)erienee of the organization Yvith 

working with military medieal treatment faeilities or medical facilities of the Department of 

18 Veterans .Affairs. 

19 (rt) Ev.\.Lt'ATION.-'rhe Secretary shall require each 

20 recipient of a grant to use a portion of the funds made 

21 aYailable through the grant to conduet an evaluation of 

22 the effectiveness of the aethities carried out through the 

23 grant by such recipient. 

24 (e) DEFil\Tl'IONS.-ln this Act: 

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5 

(1) ASSTSTAKCE DOG.-The term "assistance 

2 dog-'' means a dog specifically trained to perform 

3 physical tasks to mitigate the effects of a disability 

4 described in subsection (b)(2), except that the term 

5 does not include a dog specifically trained for com6 fort or personal defem:e. 

7 (2) C0\'1mED :\1E:.\IBERS A .. '-JD YE'l'ERANS.-The 

8 term "covered members and veterans" means9 (A) vvith respeet to a member of the 

10 Armed :B'orces, such member ·who is11 (i) receiYing medical treatment, recu12 peration, or therapy under chapter 55 of 

13 title 10, United States Code; 

14 (ii) in medical hold or medieal hold15 over status; or 

16 (iii) covered under section 1202 or 

17 1205 of title 10, United States Code; and 

18 (B) V\,-j_th respc~et to a veteran, a veteran 

19 who is enrolled iu the health care system estab20 lished under section 1705(a) of title 38, United 

21 States Code. 

22 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF Jli>PROPHL\TIONS.-rrhere is 

23 authorized to he appropriated to carry out this Act 

24 $5,000,000 for each of fiseal years 201 G through 2020. 

0 

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CANINE COMPANIONS fO It IN 1:> [I' E Nil t~ ( t:l!> 

On Behalf of Canine Companions for Independence• regarding the PAWS Act Oversight Hearing before the 

House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security 

April15, 2016 

Submitted by Paul E. Mundell, CEO, Canine Companions for Independence, National Headquarters, P.O. Box 

446, Santa Rosa, California, 95402-0446, 707-577·1700 

Canine Companions for Independence· is a non-profit headquartered in Santa Rosa, CA. Founded in 

1975, our organization was the first assistance dog organization to be accredited by Assistance Dogs 

International and has provided assistance dogs to more than 5,000 people with disabilities and US 

military Veterans across the country, at no cost to the individual. We have seen first-hand the power 

and positive impact that an assistance dog can make in the lives of our service men and women. 

Additionally, Canine Companions is one of three dog provider organizations participating in the 

current VA Study to determine the benefits of service dogs to Veterans with PTS. 

On April14, the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security held a 

hearing regarding connecting Veterans with PTS with service dogs. During the hearing, several 

witnesses and members of Congress mentioned that they could see no downside to the PAWS Act as 

it is currently written, and that no harm could result from placing dogs with Veterans as quickly as 

possible. Canine Companions respectfully disagrees with this assertion. In our experience, it is vital to 

maintain high standards for the selection and training of assistance dogs and the placement and 

follow-up with assistance dog teams, in order to ensure quality partnerships. Providing dogs to 

Veterans without regard to these high standards can cause harm to the veteran, the dog, and the 

public. 

The need for service dogs is great, and the supply of appropriate service dogs is limited; because of 

this, many organizations have sprung up to fill the need. Unfortunately, many of these organizations 

lack the knowledge and experience to maintain high standards and produce safe and effective 

assistance dog teams. Canine Companions applauds the authors of the PAWS Act for recognizing the 

need for quality assistance dogs, and for providing that organizations contracted to provide these 

dogs should be certified through Assistance Dogs International (ADI) or a similar organization. 

However, while certification through AD! provides the foundation for a set of minimum standards, 

these may be insufficient for the placement of assistance dogs with individuals with PTS, due to the 

unique nature of the placements. Careful consideration is required when making these placements 

because of the higher incidence of suicidality, anger management issues, and substance abuse. Due 

to this reality, ADI has created a sub-committee, which includes representation from Canine 

Companions, which is currently in the process of creating additional guidelines and standards for the 

placement of assistance dogs with individuals with PTS. An organization should implement additional 

protocols for applicant screening, consultation with mental health providers, dog selection and 

training, the placement process and staff training, and frequency and quality of follow-up. 

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Canine Companions is concerned that the introduction of the PAWS act at this time unintentionally 

invites the formation of unethical organizations seeking to capitalize on the available funds, without 

the knowledge or experience to create safe and effective teams. We suggest that the text of the 

PAWS Act be amended to include additional rigorous screening of assistance dog providers prior to 

their approval. An unscrupulous or inexperienced organization might encounter any of several pitfalls 

in their processes; the organizations selected to provide these assistance dogs should be wellestablished and proven to maintain high standards in all aspects of their program. 

Dog selection: 

o Health: Assistance dogs should, at a minimum, be screened for common and 

foreseeable medical issues. These include, but are not limited to: allergies, heart 

conditions, orthopedic problems, eye problems, digestive problems, and problems 

common to the breed of dog selected. Dogs displaying any of the above, or other 

health conditions that would impact their working ability, should be disqualified. 

Assistance dog users rely on the services that the assistance dog provides; placing a 

dog with a health condition creates an emotional and financial burden on the 

assistance dog user and interferes with the potential benefit from the placement. In a 

placement with an individual with PTS, the dog acts in part as a stabilizing influence, 

and the premature loss or retirement of this type of dog is likely to be disruptive and 

damaging. 

o Temperament: Assistance dogs must be temperamentally sound. Their work requires 

them to be calm and confident in a variety of environments and situations, and to 

remain focused on their work in the presence of distractions. Potential assistance dogs 

should be evaluated by experienced professionals over a significant period of time and 

in the settings in which they will be expected to perform their work. This standard is 

particularly important when placing assistance dogs with individuals with PTS, who are 

likely to experience anxiety and hypervigilance in many settings and will rely on their 

assistance dog to help them feel more comfortable in these environments. Behavioral 

issues such as anxiety, fear, aggression, prey drive, inappropriate toileting, 

inappropriate vocalization, or high management can create safety hazards for the 

handler, dog, and/or the public. Furthermore, even a minor behavioral issue can 

create extra management and stress for an assistance dog user, decreasing the 

beneficial effects of the placement. 

Training: 

o Standards: Once selected, potential assistance dogs should receive extensive training, 

either directly from, or overseen by, experienced professionals, to prepare them for 

their working role. While the format of this training may vary from organization to 

organization, at the time of graduation dogs should be proficient in performing both 

basic-obedience and their trained tasks in a variety of environments and in the 

presence of distractions. Dogs with inadequate training may present ongoing 

management challenges or safety concerns due to a lack of obedience. Assistance dog 

users should be able to rely on their dogs to perform service-related tasks, and placing 

a dog that fails to perform creates an inherent safety concern. 

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o Tasks: Assistance dog organizations have an ethical responsibility to be conscientious 

in selecting the tasks the assistance dogs will be trained to perform. Protection work 

and other similar tasks, such as training the dog to display aggressive behavior, may be 

requested by individuals with PTS who are uncomfortable about their surroundings. 

However, these tasks are misguided and counterproductive to therapeutic goals, are 

inappropriate for assistance dogs working in public places, and present inherent safety 

concerns. Any tasks that require the dog to behave aggressively are a violation of the 

Americans with Disabilities Act and should be prohibited. 

Application process: Thorough assessment of assistance dog applicants is a cornerstone of 

any effective assistance dog program. Due to the invisible nature of the disability, it is all the 

more important that applicants seeking an assistance dog for PTS be screened by experienced 

professionals with the involvement of a licensed mental health provider. In order to make an 

effective placement, the organization needs information about an applicant's lifestyle, home 

environment, activity level, disability, treatment history and goals, and the individual's goals 

for partnership with an assistance dog. Some or all of this assessment should ideally take 

place in-person, and include an opportunity to handle and interact with potential assistance 

dogs. Not all individuals will be appropriate for placement with an assistance dog. Persons 

who are in an unstable situation, who are unwilling or unable to meet safety standards, who 

have ongoing issues with substance abuse or violence, or who cannot provide for the dog's 

needs should not be accepted into the program. Failure to thoroughly screen applicants runs 

the risk of placing a dog into an already unstable or dangerous situation. At a minimum, 

insufficient contact between the individual and the organization may result in a placement 

that fails to provide the greatest benefit to the recipient. 

Placement: Canine Companions supports the PAWS Act provision that assistance dog 

recipients receive in-house training for a minimum of 30 hours over ten days as part of the 

placement process. Further, this training should be provided by experienced professionals, 

trained to work with individuals with PTSD, who have direct knowledge of the assistance dog 

recipients and the dogs themselves. The content of the training should cover all aspects of 

canine ownership and care, extensive hands-on practice in a variety of settings, and an 

overview of the assistance dog owner's rights and responsibilities. At the conclusion of 

training, the individual should be fully prepared to use his or her assistance dog in daily life. 

The placement process provides the foundation for the working relationship of the team, and 

it is critical that the assistance dog recipient receive high quality information and instruction. 

No matter how well-trained the assistance dog may be, the quality of the partnership will 

always depend in part upon the handler maintaining the dog's skills. 

Follow-up: Canine Companions supports the PAWS Act provision that assistance dog 

recipients should receive follow-up support services for the lifetime of the placement. Canine 

Companions knows from experience that follow-up support is a vital part of any successful 

assistance dog program. However, due to the fact that assistance dog placements with 

individuals with PTS are a newer phenomenon, the best practices for follow-up with these 

teams are less well-established. It is all the more important that organizations making these 

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types of placements are proactive in maintaining contact to ensure that they are able to help 

troubleshoot any issues that may arise. 

Canine Companions for Independence shares the desire to benefit Veterans that gave rise to the 

PAWS Act. It is our hope that high quality service dog placements could be a beneficial intervention 

for Veterans with PTS. With our 40+ years of experience making assistance dog placements, we have 

found that there are certain criteria that must be in place to maximize the benefit to the user. As the 

largest provider of assistance dogs, we are committed to helping develop and maintain standards of 

excellence within the assistance dog industry. It is this commitment that gives rise to the concerns 

voiced above and leads us to recommend that the PAWS Act, and any similar legislation, include 

provisions to ensure the high quality of assistance dog placements. 

Canine Companions for Independence® I 2965 Dutton Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95407 1 707·577·1700