Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.
For men and women who have put their lives on the line to serve our nation, adjusting to civilian life can be a huge mental and emotional challenge. Many veterans and first responders have seen and lived through horrors that the rest of us can hardly imagine, leaving them with crippling anxiety, depression and even PTSD. For many service members, retired or still in duty, a service dog can be the key to living a normal life, as these dogs provide security, emotional and even medical support.
These dogs don't come cheap, though, and many service personnel who desperately need a service dog cannot afford to get one, or they may find themselves on a waiting list for years until one comes available through a charity program.
Forgotten Coast K9 is a veteran owned and operated non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, and strives to provide certified service dogs to veterans and first responders at minimal to no cost to them. A single canine that has completed the necessary certification can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $40,000, a price than many veterans are simply unable to afford. Forgotten Coast K9's partnerships allow them to limit the out of pocket expense for veterans and first responders to just $5,000 through their programs. Forgotten Coast K9 also raises money for service members who are unable to afford a canine to participate in their programs at little to no cost, and they rely solely on donations from the public and fundraising efforts to make this possible.
Forgotten Coast K9 is operated by Chris O'Brian, who initially created the company as a canine training company, focusing not just on training dogs, but on instructing owners on how to train and work with their own dogs. While the company was seeing success in their endeavors of working with recreational canine companions, Chris began to see the need for a different direction the company could take, and in 2021, he turned his training company into a non-profit organization that was dedicated to pairing veterans in need with life-changing service dogs.
Because not every veteran or first responder may need a full-blown service dog, Forgotten Coast K9 also offers Emotional Support dogs. Their Emotional Support Dogs for Veterans program provides an emotional support dog to veterans and first responders who need a trained companion to help them through their daily life. These dogs are are trained in high level obedience, have a solid baseline for advanced training, and are conditioned to handle situations better than an everyday pet.
Forgotten Coast K9 also provides fundraising efforts for veterans who are unable to afford a necessary dog, and are committed to getting dogs paired with the handlers that need them. As a 501(c)(3) organization, they rely solely on donations from the public to make this possible. There are several ways to donate:
Check donations are tax deductible, and can be sent to Forgotten Coast K9 directly, located at 137 SW Shelby Ave. in Madison, Fla., 32340. The organization also accepts donations through CashApp and Venmo and can be found under the name $forgottencoastk9 (CashApp) and @forgottencoastk9 (Venmo). They also accept donations through their website, Forgottencoastk9.org and on their facebook page.
Anyone wishing to apply for a Forgotten Coast K9 service or emotional support dog, or for more information on how you can make a difference, you can reach Chris and the team online at ForgottencoastK9.org.
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