thedrifter
09-30-07, 05:06 PM
Base asks vet to leave because of donated dog
Officials, experts debate whether pet qualifies as service animal
By Karen Jowers - kjowers@militarytimes.com
Posted : October 08, 2007
A 19-year-old soldier and his dog are at the center of a controversy about service dogs and wounded warriors.
Pfc. Adrian Garcia, who lost his legs in March in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Iraq, was given a pit bull Sept. 4 to help him in his recovery.
Now, Garcia and his mother, Lourdes, must leave the Fisher House at Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and move to an off-post apartment because the Army-run facility does not allow pets.
But Garcia, his mother and the founder of Canines for Combat Wounded, the newly formed group that gave Garcia his dog, Moukie, insist the animal is a service dog.
“She puts a smile on my face and helps me look forward to the day,” Garcia said. “They tell me that I have traumatic brain injury. My dog is helping me to remember. I feed her at this time, I take her out at this time. She helps get me into the routine of daily life.”
The situation highlights an issue that the military is just starting to address — the possibility that service dogs could help veterans with war wounds, physical as well as psychiatric.
The Justice Department says the Americans With Disabilities Act defines service animals as working animals, not pets.
“Service animals are ... individually trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities such as guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling wheelchairs, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, or performing other special tasks,” the Justice Department definition states.
Army Sgt. Ron Portillo, himself a wounded veteran of Iraq and founder of Canines for Combat Wounded, contends that Moukie should, in fact, be considered a service dog. He said the dog has had advanced obedience training and is important for Garcia’s psychiatric well-being, although Garcia and his mother both acknowledge that the dog needs more training.
Under the ADA, “a person can train their own dog,” said Sheila O’Brien, executive director of Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans. “The law doesn’t care how many hours of training or where the dog comes from.”
Her organization was the first to provide service dogs to wounded Iraq veterans, placing five, including two that are now at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, she said.
The group provides rigorous training for dog and handler, and consults with the patients’ medical providers at Walter Reed.
“I will train her to retrieve items,” Garcia said. “The more I progress, the more she can help me. Once I’m able to walk on prosthetics, she can help me with balance.”
Col. (Dr.) Carlos Angueira, Brooke’s deputy commander for clinical services, said Moukie is not a service dog, and “there are no provisions at the Fisher House for pets.”
“It’s a communal environment. You start infringing on the rights of other families,” he said. “The ADA does not apply here.”
The policy is not meant to be “anti-dog,” he stressed.
“We fully recognize the therapeutic value of dogs. And I recognize there’s a therapeutic potential for this dog,” he said. “But to try to say it’s a service dog and we have to allow it, that’s not going to get it.”
As hospital officials were trying to find a place for Garcia, his mother and his dog to live on post, Anguiera said, they found the biggest hurdle yet: Moukie is a pit bull, and the pit bull breed is not allowed on post at Fort Sam Houston, period.
Moreover, Garcia is not ready, physically, to take care of the dog, Anguiera said, noting that Garcia needs more surgery in a few weeks and 10 to 12 more months of rehabilitation.
Anguiera advised Garcia not to get a dog at this stage, but Portillo said the donation was already in the works.
“I lay no blame on Pfc. Garcia — he wants an animal to love,” Anguiera said. “I have an issue with Portillo. It’s an unfortunate situation.”
This is the first time the issue has come up at Brooke Army Medical Center, Anguiera said.
“We reiterate there is a role for service dogs, typically after rehabilitation has been completed,” he said.
Portillo said he didn’t know about Garcia’s extra surgery and rehabilitation when he contacted the soldier about receiving a dog.
Garcia found out four days before he was due to pick up the dog that she wouldn’t be allowed to stay overnight at Fisher House. For a few weeks, she was allowed to stay during the day, and a friend volunteered to keep her at night.
A local resident has offered to let the Garcias live in an off-post apartment, rent-free.
“We have no alternative ... we can’t get rid of the dog,” Garcia’s mother said. “The dog made a lot of difference. Before Adrian got her, he wouldn’t go out. Now, he wants to go out. This dog brought smiles to his face, which I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Portillo said the breed should be irrelevant, and noted that when he approached Garcia with the offer of a service dog, Garcia asked specifically for a pit bull.
Portillo founded his organization this summer, he said, because of the experience he had in Landstuhl, Germany, after he was wounded and unable to speak. He suffered from traumatic brain injury, and one of his legs was amputated. “A golden retriever came and jumped on my bed. ... before they knew it, I was in a wheelchair and walking him,” Portillo said.
The service dog community is divided between those who place dogs to help people with physical disabilities, and those who place dogs to help people with psychological disabilities, said Joan Esnayra, president of the Psychiatric Service Dogs Society.
“Most schools don’t want to train psychiatric service dogs,” she said. “So people are pretty much left on their own to train their dogs. The demand is more than the supply.”
The training for a psychiatric service dog is abstract, Esnayra said, with much of it depending on the handler and the dog spending all their time together.
She said dogs have made a big difference in helping some people with post-traumatic stress disorder. But she admits that traumatic brain injury is “a new frontier” for service dogs.
The procedures of the Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans group are more regimented. That group has been placing service dogs with wounded troops at Walter Reed based on the Assistance Dogs International guidelines, O’Brien said.
Her group has been placing dogs for 31 years in the general population and, within the last two years, has started its program “Canines for Wounded Veterans.”
The nonprofit group has placed five dogs with five more ready to be placed when veterans are far enough along in their recovery to receive them, O’Brien said.
“We feel this new population is going to want service dogs,” she said of combat veterans of the current wars. “We are preparing now to meet the needs of this young disabled population.
“This is new for everybody.”
Ellie
Officials, experts debate whether pet qualifies as service animal
By Karen Jowers - kjowers@militarytimes.com
Posted : October 08, 2007
A 19-year-old soldier and his dog are at the center of a controversy about service dogs and wounded warriors.
Pfc. Adrian Garcia, who lost his legs in March in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Iraq, was given a pit bull Sept. 4 to help him in his recovery.
Now, Garcia and his mother, Lourdes, must leave the Fisher House at Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and move to an off-post apartment because the Army-run facility does not allow pets.
But Garcia, his mother and the founder of Canines for Combat Wounded, the newly formed group that gave Garcia his dog, Moukie, insist the animal is a service dog.
“She puts a smile on my face and helps me look forward to the day,” Garcia said. “They tell me that I have traumatic brain injury. My dog is helping me to remember. I feed her at this time, I take her out at this time. She helps get me into the routine of daily life.”
The situation highlights an issue that the military is just starting to address — the possibility that service dogs could help veterans with war wounds, physical as well as psychiatric.
The Justice Department says the Americans With Disabilities Act defines service animals as working animals, not pets.
“Service animals are ... individually trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities such as guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling wheelchairs, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, or performing other special tasks,” the Justice Department definition states.
Army Sgt. Ron Portillo, himself a wounded veteran of Iraq and founder of Canines for Combat Wounded, contends that Moukie should, in fact, be considered a service dog. He said the dog has had advanced obedience training and is important for Garcia’s psychiatric well-being, although Garcia and his mother both acknowledge that the dog needs more training.
Under the ADA, “a person can train their own dog,” said Sheila O’Brien, executive director of Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans. “The law doesn’t care how many hours of training or where the dog comes from.”
Her organization was the first to provide service dogs to wounded Iraq veterans, placing five, including two that are now at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, she said.
The group provides rigorous training for dog and handler, and consults with the patients’ medical providers at Walter Reed.
“I will train her to retrieve items,” Garcia said. “The more I progress, the more she can help me. Once I’m able to walk on prosthetics, she can help me with balance.”
Col. (Dr.) Carlos Angueira, Brooke’s deputy commander for clinical services, said Moukie is not a service dog, and “there are no provisions at the Fisher House for pets.”
“It’s a communal environment. You start infringing on the rights of other families,” he said. “The ADA does not apply here.”
The policy is not meant to be “anti-dog,” he stressed.
“We fully recognize the therapeutic value of dogs. And I recognize there’s a therapeutic potential for this dog,” he said. “But to try to say it’s a service dog and we have to allow it, that’s not going to get it.”
As hospital officials were trying to find a place for Garcia, his mother and his dog to live on post, Anguiera said, they found the biggest hurdle yet: Moukie is a pit bull, and the pit bull breed is not allowed on post at Fort Sam Houston, period.
Moreover, Garcia is not ready, physically, to take care of the dog, Anguiera said, noting that Garcia needs more surgery in a few weeks and 10 to 12 more months of rehabilitation.
Anguiera advised Garcia not to get a dog at this stage, but Portillo said the donation was already in the works.
“I lay no blame on Pfc. Garcia — he wants an animal to love,” Anguiera said. “I have an issue with Portillo. It’s an unfortunate situation.”
This is the first time the issue has come up at Brooke Army Medical Center, Anguiera said.
“We reiterate there is a role for service dogs, typically after rehabilitation has been completed,” he said.
Portillo said he didn’t know about Garcia’s extra surgery and rehabilitation when he contacted the soldier about receiving a dog.
Garcia found out four days before he was due to pick up the dog that she wouldn’t be allowed to stay overnight at Fisher House. For a few weeks, she was allowed to stay during the day, and a friend volunteered to keep her at night.
A local resident has offered to let the Garcias live in an off-post apartment, rent-free.
“We have no alternative ... we can’t get rid of the dog,” Garcia’s mother said. “The dog made a lot of difference. Before Adrian got her, he wouldn’t go out. Now, he wants to go out. This dog brought smiles to his face, which I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Portillo said the breed should be irrelevant, and noted that when he approached Garcia with the offer of a service dog, Garcia asked specifically for a pit bull.
Portillo founded his organization this summer, he said, because of the experience he had in Landstuhl, Germany, after he was wounded and unable to speak. He suffered from traumatic brain injury, and one of his legs was amputated. “A golden retriever came and jumped on my bed. ... before they knew it, I was in a wheelchair and walking him,” Portillo said.
The service dog community is divided between those who place dogs to help people with physical disabilities, and those who place dogs to help people with psychological disabilities, said Joan Esnayra, president of the Psychiatric Service Dogs Society.
“Most schools don’t want to train psychiatric service dogs,” she said. “So people are pretty much left on their own to train their dogs. The demand is more than the supply.”
The training for a psychiatric service dog is abstract, Esnayra said, with much of it depending on the handler and the dog spending all their time together.
She said dogs have made a big difference in helping some people with post-traumatic stress disorder. But she admits that traumatic brain injury is “a new frontier” for service dogs.
The procedures of the Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans group are more regimented. That group has been placing service dogs with wounded troops at Walter Reed based on the Assistance Dogs International guidelines, O’Brien said.
Her group has been placing dogs for 31 years in the general population and, within the last two years, has started its program “Canines for Wounded Veterans.”
The nonprofit group has placed five dogs with five more ready to be placed when veterans are far enough along in their recovery to receive them, O’Brien said.
“We feel this new population is going to want service dogs,” she said of combat veterans of the current wars. “We are preparing now to meet the needs of this young disabled population.
“This is new for everybody.”
Ellie