In honor of Service Dog Awareness month this September, our MCM partners at Purina Dog Chow are proud to launch the fourth annual Service Dog Salute campaign. Crafted in the USA, Dog Chow has proudly supported the military since the brand was founded in 1926, and their military commitment continues today.
In partnership with service dog organization Got Your Six Support Dogs and TV and radio personality Bobby Bones, Dog Chow has spent the last year following three veterans on their unique journeys of healing and hope alongside a PTSD service dog.
This first-year journey is captured with a new documentary short film titled “Even Heroes Need Heroes”, which you can view in full below. The documentary follows veteran and service dog pairs Shannon and Pepper, Tishawna and Archie, and Andy and Thanos as they learn how to cope with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as night terrors, emotional detachment, and hypervigilance.
Watch the documentary: Even Heroes Need Heroes
Today, over three million military veterans are affected by PTSD. Service dogs have been proven to reduce the severity of PTSD symptoms and suicidal behaviors; however, it costs over $20,000 on average to train and care for just one service dog. This means that unfortunately, less than 1% of those in need are able to receive one.
Our partners at Dog Chow are on a mission to change that.
Since 2018, the Dog Chow Service Dog Salute program has donated $850,000 towards organizations like Got Your Six Support Dogs and Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) to support the training of more service dogs for military veterans. They have also supported critical research within the VA to recognize service dogs as a legitimate therapy option for PTSD and worked to help pass import legislation to enable more veterans to receive these highly trained dogs.
To find out how you can help, visit DogChow.com/service.
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