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Sep 5, 1:19 PM EDT
After 8-year delay, VA program hopes to help vets
By ARELIS HERNANDEZ
Associated Press Writer
HOUSTON (AP) -- The drone of helicopters still haunts William Callahan decades after Vietnam combat left him paralyzed, but he said government bureaucracy stood in the way of getting the one thing that made the echoes stop and kept him independent: a service dog.
It took four years and giving up on a Veteran's Affairs canine program for Callahan to find Taylor, a specially trained Labrador retriever.
Although the canine program's Web site touts that it "routinely" gives veterans service dogs, the program's director Neil Eckrich said only two dogs have been paired with veterans since Congress authorized the program in 2001. Eckrich acknowledged there were difficulties with the program, including the time it took to conduct studies on the dogs' benefits and problems promoting the service.
Finally, about eight years after the program began, many hope it will start finding homes for the four-legged companions that can help disabled veterans be more independent, better deal with post traumatic stress syndrome and to just be a friend. The VA is now working on improving the program and in Washington, increasing funding for such programs is getting bipartisan support.
Callahan, 63, began trying to find a service dog in 2004, and his local VA office said the program didn't exist - even though that wasn't true. He eventually turned to one of the more than two dozen nonprofit groups in the U.S. that train dogs for injured veterans.
Paralyzed from the waist down and facing the diminishing use of his arms and hands, Callahan said he needed assistance picking up items from the floor and someone to seek help in emergencies.
He credits Taylor for enabling him to stay in his Houston-area home and calming him when images from the war flash through his mind.
"He is the only friend I have that I know for sure loves and protects me," Callahan said, leaning in to kiss Taylor. "Sometimes I wonder whether I'm giving enough to him for all he gives me."
Several disabled veterans said they too ran into walls and misinformation when looking for help to get a service dog. Some said phone calls were never returned and local VA offices ignored their repeated inquiries.
"I was told they would not fund a dog, they had never refunded a service dog and were unwilling to make my case," Robert Schwartz said of his conversation with his VA office in 2005.
Schwartz, 68, broke his back in Vietnam and was paralyzed from the waist down. After his wife died, he said an assistance dog was the only thing that kept him out of a nursing home. Living on Kelleys Island, Ohio in Lake Erie he also was looking for a dog that could help him on his boat.
Congress authorized but did not require the VA to provide service dogs as part of a 2001 law that enhanced veterans' health care. Money for the program was to come from the VA's general fund.
For nearly six years, the agency studied ways to provide the dogs but concluded that the lack of standards and research supporting the medical benefits were huge deterrents.
"We have to take into account the veteran's health, the dog's health and taxpayer money," Eckrich said. "There were no standards that apply to training, to the dogs and to the trainers."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SERVICE_DOGS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
After 8-year delay, VA program hopes to help vets
By ARELIS HERNANDEZ
Associated Press Writer
HOUSTON (AP) -- The drone of helicopters still haunts William Callahan decades after Vietnam combat left him paralyzed, but he said government bureaucracy stood in the way of getting the one thing that made the echoes stop and kept him independent: a service dog.
It took four years and giving up on a Veteran's Affairs canine program for Callahan to find Taylor, a specially trained Labrador retriever.
Although the canine program's Web site touts that it "routinely" gives veterans service dogs, the program's director Neil Eckrich said only two dogs have been paired with veterans since Congress authorized the program in 2001. Eckrich acknowledged there were difficulties with the program, including the time it took to conduct studies on the dogs' benefits and problems promoting the service.
Finally, about eight years after the program began, many hope it will start finding homes for the four-legged companions that can help disabled veterans be more independent, better deal with post traumatic stress syndrome and to just be a friend. The VA is now working on improving the program and in Washington, increasing funding for such programs is getting bipartisan support.
Callahan, 63, began trying to find a service dog in 2004, and his local VA office said the program didn't exist - even though that wasn't true. He eventually turned to one of the more than two dozen nonprofit groups in the U.S. that train dogs for injured veterans.
Paralyzed from the waist down and facing the diminishing use of his arms and hands, Callahan said he needed assistance picking up items from the floor and someone to seek help in emergencies.
He credits Taylor for enabling him to stay in his Houston-area home and calming him when images from the war flash through his mind.
"He is the only friend I have that I know for sure loves and protects me," Callahan said, leaning in to kiss Taylor. "Sometimes I wonder whether I'm giving enough to him for all he gives me."
Several disabled veterans said they too ran into walls and misinformation when looking for help to get a service dog. Some said phone calls were never returned and local VA offices ignored their repeated inquiries.
"I was told they would not fund a dog, they had never refunded a service dog and were unwilling to make my case," Robert Schwartz said of his conversation with his VA office in 2005.
Schwartz, 68, broke his back in Vietnam and was paralyzed from the waist down. After his wife died, he said an assistance dog was the only thing that kept him out of a nursing home. Living on Kelleys Island, Ohio in Lake Erie he also was looking for a dog that could help him on his boat.
Congress authorized but did not require the VA to provide service dogs as part of a 2001 law that enhanced veterans' health care. Money for the program was to come from the VA's general fund.
For nearly six years, the agency studied ways to provide the dogs but concluded that the lack of standards and research supporting the medical benefits were huge deterrents.
"We have to take into account the veteran's health, the dog's health and taxpayer money," Eckrich said. "There were no standards that apply to training, to the dogs and to the trainers."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SERVICE_DOGS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
