People who aren’t familiar with therapy dogs probably have minimal understanding of how these pups can change a person’s life. Dogs who serve war veterans with PTSD not only make life easier for these wounded warriors, but they pretty much save them from taking their own lives.
A study was conducted back in 2018, and the VA has found that 20 veterans commit suicide daily; this is a statistic that is extremely alarming. Because of reports like these, a lot of volunteers decided to take action. Among them is Rich Brewer, the founder of One Warrior Won.
The non-profit organization dedicated itself to training and donating service dogs for war veterans diagnosed with PTSD or traumatic brain injuries. Rich is basically saving the lives of these vets, but he also saves the lives of the pups he recruits. One Warrior Won recruits dogs from high-kill shelters.
One of the lucky pups that Rich and his team had saved is Decimo. When this pooch was recruited by the volunteers, he was 24-hours away from being euthanized. He was taken from a shelter in Georgia, where they euthanize dozens of dogs every day.
Decimo, along with the other dogs rescued by One Warrior Won, underwent training. They were already very sociable dogs, so it wasn’t difficult to teach them the basics. Decimo’s group’s training was sponsored by a non-profit group from North Carolina called The Patriot Charities.
So, once they have received their certifications, the group was flown to Charlotte to meet their new humans. It was love at first sight for the Iraqi war veteran, James Tessneer when he first saw Decimo. James has high hopes that the pup will change his life. He has been avoiding public places since he got home. But now that Decimo is around, he’s now looking forward to spending time with his daughter at the beach.
Credits: USA TODAY
