Every day an average of 22 veterans commit suicide; typically, this is a negative result of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI). Highly trained service dogs can help lower these numbers by supporting veterans with daily activities and stressors. Service dogs can be trained to remind a veteran to take medications, awaken a veteran who is having a nightmare, calm a veteran down when in the midst of a panic attack, and other related tasks.

The Department of Veterans' Affairs does not provide service dogs for veterans with PTSD or TBI, and this is a pressing issue because of the prevalence of suicide among veterans who are not receiving the help they need. The VA only provides service dogs to veterans suffering from physical disabilities such as blindness.

The VA states: "A service dog is a dog trained to do specific tasks for a person that he or she cannot do because of a disability. To be a service dog, a dog must go through training. Usually the dog is trained to:

• Do things that are different from natural dog behavior
• Do things that the handler (dog owner) cannot do because of a disability
• Learn to work with the new handler in ways that help manage the owner's disability"

The dogs that are trained to be service dogs undergo such training that the VA describes, but the VA only recognizes them as emotional support animals. Therefore they do not financially support veterans seeking service dogs to help with their PTSD and TBI. Veterans are dependent on the generosity of non-profit organizations, like Paws and Stripes, that help provide them with service dogs.