JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — First Coast News is partnering again with K9s for Warriors to help train and pair service dogs with veterans in need.
The video player above will feature K9s for Warriors' "Puppy Cam" on Monday. These puppies will be trained by the organization and eventually paired with a veteran in need.
Since 2015, over $3.8 million has been raised during the Veterans Day telethon by First Coast News viewers.
Your donations have helped fund the training of 188 service dogs, which were paired with 188 veterans. Donations have also been used to break ground and complete the K9s for Warriors' Davis Family Mega Kennel, allowing K9s for Warriors to rescue and train more dogs. It also decreased the waitlist from four years to two.
You can donate this year using the following methods:
Phone number: (904) 686-1902
Text K9s to 41444
K9s for Warriors Fast Facts
*Provided by K9s for Warriors
- The organization was founded in 2011 by Shari Duval, a mother who saw how a Service Dog benefitted her son who had returned from civilian duty in Iraq
- It’s national headquarters is right here in Northeast Florida in Ponte Vedra
- In 202, with the help of funds raised during Veterans Day telethon, K9s For Warriors was able to open its Davis Family Mega Kennel to train more dogs to be paired with veterans in need
- It costs between $25,000 to $40,000 to train a service dog for a veteran with PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and/or military sexual trauma, although K9s provides the service dog at NO cost to the veteran
- Each month roughly a dozen veterans arrive at K9s For Warriors campus in Ponte Vedra and spends three weeks bonding and learning how to use their new service dog
- Sadly, roughly 20 veterans die by suicide each day, and K9s For Warriors is determined to change that through the use of service dogs
- A majority of the dogs in the program are rescues allowing the K9/Warrior team to build an unwavering bond that facilitates their collective healing and recovery
- And for the dogs that aren’t quite cut out for service work, are either adopted out to loving families or trained to be therapy dogs for first responders and law enforcement – the dogs never go back to shelters
