Should taxpayer dollars pay for veterans’ service dogs? Congress is deciding

For army veteran Scott Edgell, healing didn’t come from a prescription: It came on four legs with a wagging tail. 

Mars, a specially trained goldendoodle, helps Edgell manage the lasting effects of his traumatic brain injury. Mars performs tasks designed to meet his specific needs.

Edgell and Mars have come to Washington to demonstrate just how much of a difference a service dog can make to a veteran.

U.S. Army Veteran, Scott Edgell speaks with Washington Examiner across from the Capitol on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (Amy DeLaura/Washington Examiner)

“One of the biggest problems I have is I don’t recognize my triggers,” Edgell told the Washington Examiner. “I don’t recognize what’s setting my brain off. So by the time I realize that it’s too late, Mars is right there at the beginning of it, and he’ll either nudge me, rub against my leg, anything to distract me, to get me to focus on him.”

Before Edgell had Mars’s assistance, he said he would struggle to go to public places and perform daily tasks, even tasks as simple as grocery shopping. With Mars’s help, he can now navigate these stressful situations.

“A trip like this I would have never been able to take,” Edgell said. “I would have never been able to do it. It’s opened up my life quite a bit.”

Edgell received Mars through American Humane Society‘s Pups4Patriots program, which provides trained service dogs to eligible veterans at no cost.

Vice President of Program Development at American Humane Society, Amy Hrin, said training a service dog is a lengthy and pricey process, which limits how many veterans these kinds of nonprofit groups can help.

“The cost can range from $15,000 to $50,000, depending on the level of training,” Hrin told Washington Examiner.

Vice President of Program Development at American Humane Society, Amy Hrin, speaks with the Washington Examiner across from the Capitol on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (Amy DeLaura/Washington Examiner)

This issue has now caught the attention of lawmakers. The Service Dogs Assisting Veterans, or SAVES Act, was introduced by Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) in April of 2025. The bipartisan proposal would create a Department of Veteran Affairs grant program to help nonprofit groups such as Pups4Patriots train and place more dogs with eligible veterans. Instead of veterans paying out of pocket or nonprofit organizations relying solely on donations, the funding would come from taxpayer dollars through grants administered by the VA.

“Pups4Patriots would be able to scale on a national level and be able to offer so many more veterans service dogs for all of their needs, whether it’s PTS or TBI,” Hrin said. “There is so much more demand than supply right now, and so passing the SAVES Act could be instrumental in helping put the healing leash in the hands of a veteran who just needs a lifeline.”

Edgell wants Congress to know how important this program is to him and so many other veterans.

“The impact of my life is not measurable,” Edgell said. “What Mars does for me on a daily basis, how much he’s helped me. I have 24-hour daycare. He’s with me 24 hours a day to help me from morning to night.”

AMERICA’S VETERANS DESERVE A CHOICE

For organizations such as Pups4Patriots, this proposal means training more dogs, serving more veterans, and ensuring cost never stands in the way of recovery.

The SAVES Act has bipartisan support, but before it can become law, Congress will have to decide whether to fund service dogs through the VA for taxpayers. The legislation has sat on the Union Calendar since September 2025.

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