Dog Tags Niagara is a regional effort to help heal the wounds of military veterans, by pairing them up with shelter dogs. It’s a brilliant initiative that offers vets the opportunity to identify with an animal through care-taking and friendship bonds. For the animal, it’s a chance to get out of the shelter and into a loving home.
“[This] great program was started by a couple of local vets in Western New York,” said Patrick W. Welch, PhD
U.S. Marine Corps (Ret) and president of VetsHERD, Inc. “Their mission is to pair up veterans and shelter animals. It has been proven that companion dogs have played a big part in reducing blood pressure, depression, anxiety and other things.”
A week ago, a lantern ceremony was held at Liberty Hound at Canalside to raise awareness of the effort. The event doubled as a benefit for the cause. This was just one of the many charitable drives that will be organized by the team at Dog Tags Niagara. At this time, coordinators are asking that people “like” the group’s Facebook page, and support the fundraising efforts as they are rolled out. The initiative is sponsored by the Niagara SPCA, and is a regional approach to solving two problematic and systemic issues in Western New York.