# The SAVES Act: Service Dogs for Veterans

This bill creates a new program that gives money to nonprofit organizations to provide trained service dogs to veterans who need them. The Department of Veterans Affairs will hand out grants—up to $2 million each—to nonprofits that have experience training service dogs and can prove they know what they're doing. The program will run for five years, starting within two years of the bill becoming law.

The service dogs covered by this program are meant to help veterans with specific disabilities and conditions. This includes veterans who are blind or have serious vision problems, those who've lost the use of their limbs or have mobility issues, veterans who are deaf, those dealing with PTSD or traumatic brain injury, and anyone else the VA determines would benefit from a service dog to live independently. The dogs are individually trained to perform specific tasks related to each veteran's particular condition—like guiding someone who's blind, alerting someone to sounds, or helping someone with mobility challenges.

Here's what makes this meaningful for veterans: if you qualify and receive a service dog through this program, you won't pay anything for it. The nonprofit organization can't charge you a fee. Plus, the VA will provide you with veterinary insurance for your dog, and that insurance continues even if the pilot program ends. The organizations receiving grants have to tell you that the VA is paying for your dog and inform you about other VA benefits you might be eligible for. The nonprofits also have to follow humane standards for the animals and run marketing campaigns to reach veterans who could benefit.

The bill sets aside $10 million per year for five years to fund this program, which means the government is committing $50 million total to help get service dogs to veterans who need them.