Program Pairs Veterans With Pets To Prevent Suicide, Foster Healing

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — A new program aims to bring pets together with traumatized veterans, with an eye toward helping them to heal.

Operation Warrior Shield and the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation announced their partnership to provide companion pets for veterans through OWS' "Operation Canine Companion Program" at the SASF's 13th Annual Unconditional Love Gala, held Saturday at a private home in the Hamptons.

A live and silent auction at the event helped to raise funds for SASF's animals and programs, as well as to garner support for Operation Canine Companion.

Vietnam Veteran and Purple Heart recipient Chris Quirin was in attendance with his new canine companion, Layla, a yellow Labrador retriever mix. Quirin is the first veteran through the partnership to be honored and presented with what he called, "a precious gift to myself and my family. The love Layla adds to our family is immeasurable. We are in love with her," he said.

"We are excited to work with Chris as we grow this program," Chief Master Sgt. Ed Schloeman, founder and CEO of Operation Warrior Shield, said. "Our goal is to provide specially trained, loving and supportive canine companions to veterans and first responders and their families who live with physical and emotional injuries incurred during their time in service."

Schloeman says he'd partnered with SASF Executive Director Patricia Deshong to provide resources and training so that both organizations could work together to match vets with shelter pets.

"In addition, we are grateful to have the support and partnership of The Doris Day Animal Shelter Foundation, and Tunnel to Towers," he said.

Bethann Carbone, CSO of Operation Warrior Shield added: "We developed Operation Canine Companion because veterans are committing suicide every day. We know how important healing from trauma is."

According to the 2021 National Veteran Suicide Prevention report an average of 17 veterans commit suicide daily.

OWS' Operation Canine Companion pets provide safety, camaraderie, unconditional acceptance, and emotional support that helps reduce the stress and challenges that our "heroes face every day," she said.

Not every dog qualifies to be a trained companion dog, Deshong said. SASF's trainers spend many hours evaluating each dog for their temperament in different environments, and how they might accept corrections and commands, she said.

Once a dog is selected, it receives basic training in commands such as "sit", "stay" and "down", and is brought to public areas such as shopping malls or city streets to help acclimate the dog to stressful environments so that the pet can accompany its handler and provide companionship in a wide range of situations, Deshong said.

Each dog will receive about three to five months of training, Deshong said. "But our program is unique in that we place the dog in the veteran's home during most of that period, and we provide training instructions to the veteran/handler so they are active participants in training the dog, as well. Because accepting a pet is a long-term commitment, we focus on setting the stage for the vet and their pet to develop compatibility and a partnership for the rest of their lives together."

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