A $30,000 donation by the General Stewart Legion Branch No. 4 Poppy Fund will support dog training for Veteran service dogs.
Miranda Turenne is a service dog instructor for the British Columbia and Alberta Guide Dog program.
Turenne said without donations the organization can’t place these amazing, life-changing service dogs, “who really have an outstanding impact on folks in our local communities.”
According to Turenne, to some people these dogs are not even just life-changing, they’re lifesaving. “They’re doing things like supporting folks reintegrating into our communities and developing connections.”
Turenne noted these dogs are certified task trained service dogs with specific skills to help mitigate a person with an operations stress injury disability.
“To work with a person to help make what can be a really challenging situation a little bit more comfortable for a person. They’re doing more than just the amazing emotional support that all our pets provide for us. They’re actually trained to support that person to allow them to reintegrate into our communities,” Turenne added.
Turenne’s job is to train the dogs and find the right person to match the dog with.
“The dog then becomes their home companion, their support system in public, their connection and unconditional love, and just like any other medical tool, to help mitigate that person’s disability. They live and work with and support people throughout their daily lives,” Turenne explained.
Every penny of a donation, Turenne said, goes towards breeding, raising, training, placing, and support for a working lifetime of a career as a service dog with a trauma-exposed professional or with a Veteran. “Those dollars all go towards our entire program and towards specifically training, placing and supporting the clients the dog is going to live with.”
This specific donation from the General Stewart Legion Branch No. 4 is going to place a dog with a Veteran in southern Alberta, Turenne added. “But also, is going to support the entire system that supports multiple Veterans across Alberta and British Columbia. It’s a huge impact, and as a non-profit, we give our dogs to our clients at no cost. For us, we can’t do this without people like the Legion to help us do the impactful work we get to do.”
