Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Soldier's Best Friend: Dogs Helping Veterans Heal

Have you ever felt the healing power and solitude that comes from the unconditional love of a pet?
 
Hope Emergency Animal Rescue (HEAR) and Emergency Animal Clinic have partnered with Soldier’s Best Friend  to help place stray dogs with soldiers from the US military. The Soldier’s Best Friend mission is: “To provide United States military veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) with a trained Service or Therapeutic Companion Dog, most of these dogs of which will be rescued from local shelters. This is accomplished by pairing the veteran with a rescued dog who then train together until graduation.”
 
Thanks to HEAR’s partnership with the Emergency Animal Clinic a call for help was recently received and an amazing story unfolded.  We are proud to announce our 1st successful placement of a stray dog with a veteran.  Meet Justin and Roxy. 
 
 Roxy's story: A young couple accidentally found a boxer mix female, 1.5 years old, at the bottom of a dumpster too weak to stand or cry out for help. The Good Samaritans got her out of the dumpster and took her home.  The couple was more than willing to care for her until she gained weight.  She remained with them and was given the name Roxy.  During the weeks of recovery, and through HEAR's partnership with Soldier's Best Friend, Roxy was specifically selected and approved to be a part of the program. Roxy was introduced to Justin (a veteran) and his family. They immediately fell in love.  Roxy was a perfect match!  Roxy's journey is not over.  She still has 6 months of service dog training before she graduates the program.  We wish Roxy and Justin the best success as they continue to learn and love each other.