BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — If you ask Mary Peter what her organization, K9 Partners for Patriots does, she’ll tell you: “We make magic happen.”
It’s her way of describing the work the group does to help military veterans.
The group, based in Brooksville, pairs rescue dogs with a veteran struggling to overcome post-traumatic stress, a traumatic brain injury or military sexual trauma. Their six-month training program trains the dogs to help the veteran in various ways, including:
- Waking them up from a nightmare
- Re-directing them during a flashback
- Helping to calm anger
- Easing a panic attack
- Aiding in mobility
“It’s just to help them get their life back again,” Peter said. “You’re seeing the light come on in the (veteran’s) eyes. You’re seeing them for the first time hoping they can trust this, because nothing else has worked.”
It did work for Dave Mageau Jr., a Marine.
Mageau Jr., who fought in Operation Desert Storm, was paired up with Asher, a rescue dog at the end of 2018. Asher has helped Mageau navigate post-traumatic stress, crippling anxiety and a spinal injury that limits his mobility.
“He does so much to help me be who I should be, who I was before the war,” Mageau said about the dog trained at K9 Partners for Patriots.
One of the struggles for people with trained service dogs, Mageau said, is confusion over the differences between trained service dogs, therapy dogs and emotional support animals.
According to Peter, a service dog is “specifically trained to mitigate a disability.” They are the only type of dog that has protection under The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and they can go anywhere the public can.
The handler can only be asked one of two questions:
- Does your dog provide a service?
- What is your dog trained to do?
Emotional support animals — medically prescribed animals providing therapeutic benefit — do have some protection under the law (but not as many as trained service dogs). By law, they are legally allowed on airplanes, in housing and at schools.
Therapy dogs are only allowed in non-pet friendly areas with special permission.
Peter and Mageau both acknowledged frustration with some people not understanding the differences in the law.
Peter said she often fields calls for veterans who say business owners will not let their trained service dog into venues, despite having the legal right to be there. Mageau also has issues with establishments allowing in non-trained service dogs, who he says can impede Asher.
“He now has to do an additional duty of being a guard dog, of looking out for both of us,” Mageau said. “Just because a dog makes you feel good —dogs make everyone feel good. That doesn’t make it a service dog.”
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