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Sen. Franken’s “Service Dogs for Veterans Act” passes Senate

Excellent news! The United States Senate has officially passed Sen. Al Franken’s bill “The Service Dogs for Veterans Act,” during a late night session last week. The bill is aimed at providing more Service and Assistance Dogs to disabled veterans. The program will partner with existing non-profit groups which train Service and Assistance Dogs. The three-year pilot program aims to train dogs to assist up to 200 disabled veterans who have mental or physical disabilities. During the course of the program The National Academy of Sciences will conduct a study to measure its effectiveness.

The bill has been incorporated into the Defense Authorization bill (S.1390) for the 2010 fiscal year. Franken commented, “There is evidence to suggest that increasing the number of service dogs would reduce the alarming suicide rate among veterans, decrease the number of hospitalizations, and lower the cost of medications and human care.”
The bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) along with others from both sides of the aisle including Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Mark Begich (D-AK), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and John Ensign (R-NV).

The bill still needs to go through the House but chances are high that it will pass and be signed by Obama. You can read more on the Talking Points Memo blog.

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Comments

  • Anonymous July 27, 2009

    I'm glad to see the program is helping existing service dog programs. This is really great!

    reply
  • sg July 27, 2009

    more information on service dogs for Veterans here: http://www.ilovedogs.com/blog/?p=1832

    reply
  • ServiceDog July 27, 2009

    Excellent post, SG. Thank you!

    reply
  • Angelamaria Duff November 30, 2017

    I am 100% Vietnam era female veteran . In the past I have tried to find out information regarding training for an assistance or service dog. Everyone I have spoken to you in the past has told me there are no programs available. I am searching for a program that trains assistance dogs. I am 100% for PTSD and also have a physical disability that qualifies for a service dog. I recently got a puppy And would very much like to have him trained as a service dog. Can you help me with any information as to where I would look for help with this issue? Thank you

    reply

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