Veterans could get service dogs for free under proposed legislation

WASHINGTON — Army veteran Bob Ouellette and Cooper, a 9-year-old golden retriever, were outside the Capitol on Wednesday to support a bill that would fund $10 million annually for grants to provide service dogs to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.

The bill — called the Service Dogs Assisting Veterans Act or SAVES Act — would authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs for the first time to award grants to nonprofits to provide service dogs at no cost to veterans with disabilities.

Ouellette works with Warrior Canine Connection, a Maryland nonprofit that breeds, trains and pairs service dogs with eligible veterans. But he also attended the event as an advocate for his son, an Army veteran with PTSD and TBI who relies on a service dog to assist with his daily interactions that include attending classes at the University of Maryland.

“When my son first came home after tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, he would stay up in his room — not engage or talk with anyone. But when he got his dog, he became sociable and would talk with us,” said Ouellette about his son, Rusty Ouellette, a former sergeant medically retired from the military.

\