SAN ANTONIO — A new program coming to Military City, USA will help both veterans and large shelter dogs.
Thursday, city leaders approved a partnership between Animal Care Services and national nonprofit K9s For Warriors. The agreement is for a 10-year lease of three acres of ACS property to build a canine training facility for K9s For Warriors in their service dog training program.
The initiative would focus on larger dogs, and 200 ACS pets are expected to go through the training to become PTSD service animals throughout the country, according to a release.
The non-profit is based in Florida and said their expansion into Texas will help with their mission to rescue large dogs, who often find themselves stuck in shelters.
“We’re more than ready to help the homeless dogs there find a new purpose as a lifesaving PTSD Service Dog," K9s for Warriors CEO Rory Diamond said.
The collaboration between San Antonio ACS and K9s For Warriors will begin in the spring. Construction on the new training facility kicks off later this year with help from a grant from the Petco Foundation, which is based in San Antonio.
According to their website, K9s For Warriors has paired more than 500 American veterans with highly trained PTSD Service Dogs in the last eight years. Over 90 percent of the dogs who completed the program to help the post 9/11 veterans were from shelters.
For more information about K9s For Warriors or San Antonio Animal Care Services, visit their websites.