A powerful way to save lives is through bonding war veterans with shelter dogs who are unwanted and facing certain euthanasia. We urgently need your support for a pilot study with returned service men and women suffering post-traumatic stress as a result of their selfless service to our country.

The Australian Pet Welfare Foundation aims to fund a unique study to evaluate a program where veterans are paired with a suitable shelter dog and are given support to train them to respond to their individual needs. For example, a veteran who suffers nightmares may be assisted to train their dog to switch on the bedroom light and wake them when they sense their owner is becoming particularly distressed during sleep.

This saves two lives – a homeless dog and a suffering soldier.

We need your help to fund this pilot program. The evidence-based results from this pilot study will help the Foundation secure additional funding to roll to compare the benefit of this program with conventional therapy for post-traumatic stress.

Funding to support studies that enrich human-pet relationships is largely non-existent in Australia.

You can make a difference in their lives, and we need your help to do it.