Bark at the Moon is excited to join everyone in blogosphere and how fitting that our first blog is to honor service dogs during National Service Dog Month. These extraordinary dogs dedicate their lives to helping people as well as assisting our brave service men and women, both on and off the battlefield.
National Service Dog Month was established in 2009 by actor, animal advocate Dick Van Patten after his visit to the Guide Dogs of the Desert. Van Patten was blindfolded to demonstrate how guide dogs provide mobility and assistance to blind people. He learned that costs to train a guide dog can be more than $40,000 and can take over two years.
Service dogs are specifically trained to help people who have disabilities which may include visual impairments, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), seizures, ambulatory issues, mental illness, diabetes, autism and more. Green Butterfly Brands and Bark at the Moon Natural Turkey Dog Treats provide aid for a specific type of service dog by donating a portion of our proceeds to training service dogs for returning disabled veterans, our military heroes.
The organization Green Butterfly contributes to is K9s for Warriors, www.k9sforwarriors.org. It trains dogs to assist veterans suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury and/or military sexual trauma as a result of post 9/11 military service. The goal is to empower them to return to civilian life with dignity and independence.
We encourage you to check out their website for a more complete vision of the vital work they do. K9s for Warriors welcomes help in addition to direct donations and the dollars received from support such as we provide. For example, an alarming 22 veterans commit suicide every day and K9s for Warriors special programs are helping to put a stop to this. You can donate items they need for use in day to day operations. If you own a business you can set up an employee donation program. You can start an online fundraiser. You can even donate a dog for training. Check out the possibilities. If you find a program in which you feel comfortable participating, it will make you feel better. We guarantee it. Works for us!
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