Friends,

On behalf of American Humane’s Lois Pope LIFE Center for Military Affairs, thank you to everyone who was able to join us for our national convening to discuss how to improve the welfare and well-being of military veterans through the use of trained posttraumatic stress (PTS) service dogs.

PTS service dogs are vital to the health, well-being and recovery of many military veterans coping with mental health issues, yet there are no nationally published standards or widely accepted best practices for training, certifying and credentialing these vitally important service dogs.

Together, with your support, our goal is to begin establishing critical definitions and best practices that will serve to ensure veterans’ access to properly trained, lifesaving PTS service dogs and improve access to all public spaces. Based on the work of our partners who joined us for this event, and with the help of a broader set of stakeholders, American Humane will form an independent scientific advisory committee comprised of leading service dog experts, mental health providers and veterinarians who will be tasked with drafting national standards for PTS service dogs.

This event and the work that follows brings new opportunities for assuring the effective pairing of PTS service dogs with our nation’s heroes in need. Through the collaboration of all the entities participating in this catalytic event and those who partner with us in the months ahead, we hope to measurably improve the lives of our nation’s veterans.

We are fully committed to this project and I hope you will join us as we move forward with this vital and long-needed effort. On behalf of those who served our nation and fought for our freedom, I offer my thanks to those who participated in the event and thank everyone in advance for the work yet to come.

Sincerely,

Robin R. Ganzert, Ph.D.
President and CEO, American Humane