MORGANTOWN, W.Va (WDTV) – The West Virginia University’s Hearts of Gold program recently received nearly $600,000 to help establish new industry standards for service dogs from the Wounded Warrior Service Dog Grant Program.
For more than 20 years, the program has been helping veterans in the area by pairing them with specifically-trained service dogs. This funding will help set new guidelines for service dog training and support.
Currently, the Hearts of Gold program primarily serves veterans within a 100-mile radius of Morgantown.
Over the course of two years, Hearts of Gold dogs are trained by students, inmates at Federal Correctional Institution — Morgantown, faculty and doctoral students with the WVU School of Medicine Occupational Therapy program, and Hearts of Gold staff to assist with tasks personalized to their matched Veterans.
“Hearts of Gold was established to give students in the Division of Animal and Nutritional Sciences experience working with dogs but also to expose students to what it is like to work with people with disabilities,” Wilson said. “The program is rooted in ‘unleashing the power of service.’ It is all about giving back to those who have taken the initiative to serve our country in the U.S. Armed Forces and, as a result of that, they have a need we can help to address.”
Although service dogs are typically valued at upwards of $25,000, the program is able to provide the animals to veterans in need at no cost.
Officials said the new standards established by the program could ultimately pave the way for the U.S. Department of Affairs to cover the cost of training and placing service dogs for veterans nationwide.
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