Transforming Lives through Service Dogs
Our mission is to educate, save and improve the lives of those suffering from mental health challenges and prior suicidal tendencies by providing highly trained service dogs as a vital lifeline. Through dedicated fundraising and partnerships with exceptional service dog training organizations, we aim to alleviate the burden on our partners, enabling them to focus on training exceptional dogs and selecting deserving individuals who meet our criteria. We are committed to donating training scholarships and service dogs, because the dogs foster transformative partnerships that instill hope and resilience in those who have selflessly served our country and others in need. By uniting in our efforts, we believe that together we can save lives and create a brighter future for those who struggle with mental health challenges.
The inspiration for SDSL started in 2010 while volunteering through the Salute Military Golf Association. Witnessing wounded veterans coming off the transport bus with their service dogs at a Maryland golf course provided the first-hand evidence needed to fuel our desire to help others suffering from mental and physical pain. Access to their service dogs was a life-changing and lifesaving gift to those physically impaired and/or traumatized men and women.
By 2021, we were actively participating in fundraising events benefiting veterans needing a service dog. At one of the walks, a speaker explained that not a single veteran’s life had been lost to suicide since their service dog program’s inception for veterans suffering from war trauma and their enlistment experience. The use of service dogs for this purpose was an obvious success. America’s Warrior Partnership documented in 2022 that over 20 veteran lives were lost daily to suicide. Our vision became clear that the service dog approach was the right direction to satisfy our need to help others.
Since that time, we have been able to partner with service dog organizations with remarkable track records. When they match service dogs with veterans and first responders, they have not lost a single hero to death by suicide. That is why SDSL’s mission is powered by its partnership with exceptional service dog trainers. This management plan enables the SDSL to focus on raising funds for scholarships and service dogs while allowing the partner organizations to concentrate on training and selecting deserving individuals.
The profound impact of a service dog on a person’s life and those surrounding them is undeniable and is supported by powerful life-saving data. However, aside from data, we also know in our hearts that when an individual in need receives a service dog, their physiological and psychological life is permanently and immeasurably changed. For these reasons, Service Dogs Saving Lives has become our life mission.
Our lifesaving difference is focused on individuals who have exhibited mental health challenges, such as, self-harming tendencies, PTSD and previously contemplated suicide. As we expand, we plan to donate service dogs to individuals in need who exhibit these same tendencies.
A service dog forms a unique partnership with its owner and provides hope to those with mental health challenges. Your donation to training a service dog with skills specific to the designated hero allows you to be a partner in positively changing lives, particularly those who have placed their own in the line of duty. Together, we can save lives.