{"id":60096,"date":"2019-11-20T00:21:15","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T00:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/11\/20\/should-veterans-be-able-to-train-and-adopt-service-dogs-at-the-vas-expense\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:14:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:14:49","slug":"should-veterans-be-able-to-train-and-adopt-service-dogs-at-the-vas-expense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2019\/11\/20\/should-veterans-be-able-to-train-and-adopt-service-dogs-at-the-vas-expense\/","title":{"rendered":"Should veterans be able to train and adopt service dogs at the VA\u2019s expense?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 A bill introduced two months ago that would give veterans the opportunity to train service dogs to reduce the effects of mental health issues has yet to come to a vote, even though it should be a \u201cno-brainer,\u201d one of the Republican co-sponsors said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s really simple: these service dogs can save lives, they can improve the veterans\u2019 health, lower their incidence of mental health issues, reduce their amount of medication, give them their mobility back, and give them their lives back,\u201d Ohio Republican Rep. Steve Stivers said at a news conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026 It\u2019s a no brainer, if you ask me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The measure has 136 co-sponsors, 45 Democrats and 91 Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/14\/new-k-9-legislation-would-provide-federal-funding-for-retired-military-working-dogs-medical-expenses\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Axel2.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">New K-9 legislation would provide federal funding for retired military working dogs\u2019 medical expenses<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The grant program is designed to cover costs incurred from veterinarian appointments, medical procedures, diagnostic tests and medications.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Randy Powers, a veteran who served in the military for over 10 years, said after the news conference that before getting his service dog Morgan, he was only able to walk about 75 steps a day because of a spine injury. Since getting his service dog, Morgan, four years ago, he has upped his walking to 5 miles a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe VA said I needed a wheelchair and I refused that,\u201d Powers said. \u201cIn the four years I\u2019ve had her, I\u2019ve had four falls. All four times I\u2019ve either left her at home or left her in my truck. So to say it doesn\u2019t work, I\u2019m here to argue otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Morgan, who was at the news conference, has also helped Powers deal with his post-traumatic stress disorder in stressful situations like getting stuck in traffic, which causes him to get anxious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The measure was introduced in September to direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program on dog-training therapy, pairing veterans diagnosed with PTSD with service dogs and encourage them to train the dogs themselves. Once the program ends, the veterans would be able to adopt their dogs to continue the therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., another co-sponsor of the bill and an Army veteran, questioned why the VA doesn\u2019t cover the costs of getting and training a service dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis should be part of the menu of what the VA provides. [\u2026] The benefits are clear,\u201d Waltz said. \u201cOur veterans right now are finding [service dogs] through their own means or through wonderful veterans services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nonprofit organizations associated with providing and training the dogs would assume the training cost and some of the food while the dogs are being trained.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/09\/10\/retired-military-working-dogs-up-for-adoption-at-joint-base-san-antonio-lackland\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/190626-F-GY993-051.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Retired military working dogs up for adoption at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland announced this summer that retired military working dogs are in search of families, homes, and couches.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the 2019 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, over 6,100 veterans died by suicide in 2017, which accounted for 14 percent of all deaths by suicide among adults. The report said almost 60 percent had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder or substance abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Walter Parker, a Vietnam War veteran, said he struggled adapting to civilian life after he left the military because he couldn\u2019t let go of his experiences in Vietnam, causing him to feel ashamed of having served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy life was literally gone. I was on the verge of suicide,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen that dog looked into my eyes, I knew he could see my soul, I knew there was something about the dog that was going to change my life\u201d he said of the service dog who joined him at the news conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c[\u2026]I am living a life I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d have again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A bill introduced two months ago that would give veterans the opportunity to train service dogs to reduce the effects of mental health issues has yet to come to a vote, even though it should be a \u201cno-brainer,\u201d one of the Republican co-sponsors said Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":86583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26,62,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3140],"class_list":["post-60096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"SOKQQZT5E5EX5LT4BMIQ4XFHSI","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2019\/11\/20\/should-veterans-be-able-to-train-and-adopt-service-dogs-at-the-vas-expense\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Should veterans be able to train and adopt service dogs at the VA\u2019s expense? - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A bill introduced two months ago that would give veterans the opportunity to train service dogs to reduce the effects of mental health issues has yet to come to a vote, even though it should be a \u201cno-brainer,\u201d one of the Republican co-sponsors said Tuesday.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should veterans be able to train and adopt service dogs at the VA\u2019s expense?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A bill introduced two months ago that would give veterans the opportunity to train service dogs to reduce the effects of mental health issues has yet to come to a vote, even though it should be a \u201cno-brainer,\u201d one of the Republican co-sponsors said Tuesday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2019\/11\/20\/should-veterans-be-able-to-train-and-adopt-service-dogs-at-the-vas-expense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-20T00:21:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T11:14:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chiara Vercellone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chiara Vercellone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" 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