Pictured: Save-A-Vet Founder Veteran Danny Scheurer and Retired Military Dog Nero
Anyone who knows me knows that my two passions have always been vets and pets. I worked for the Veterans Administration for many years attempting to help our vets, and I’ve been involved in pet rescue now for many years. But I recently met a military veteran who is doing far more than I ever did – he founded a non-profit organization to help both our valiant veterans and our retired military and law enforcement dogs.
His name is Danny Scheurer – he grew up in northern Illinois, and he served in both the Marine Corps and in the Army, most recently in Iraq. And while serving overseas, Danny grew very fond of the many brave and loyal military working dogs that help save so many of our valiant soldiers’ lives. These dogs have been deployed oversees with our troops since WWI.
But as many of us have sadly known for a very long time now, our government has been treating these loyal military dogs as ‘equipment,’ which means that many of these canine heroes have been cruelly left behind or unjustly euthanized after their military service ended. And many of us have been petitioning our government for a very long time now to stop treating these canine heroes as mere property to be disposed of, and to give them a life of peaceful retirement that they all truly deserve after serving our nation so honorably.
When Danny returned home from active duty, he founded ‘Save-A-Vet’ and he has dedicated himself to finding a way to provide housing facilities for both disabled veterans and for retired military, homeland security, and law enforcement dogs. Unfortunately, many of these canines are unable to be placed out for adoption after retirement because of their training, past experiences, or debilitating injuries sustained in the line of duty. And like our valiant veterans, many of these canines also suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.) Schuerer calls these heroic dogs ‘Our Other Forgotten Soldiers.’
His non-profit organization, Save-A-Vet, recently opened a new facility in East Dundee IL, and plans are underway to open an additional facility in Elgin, IL which will not only house approximately 55 disabled veterans and 25 retired military, homeland security, and law enforcement canines, it will also act as the new Headquarters for Save-A-Vet and a number of other veteran organizations from the surrounding area.
Besides meeting Danny Scheurer recently, I also met Laky, a retired Baltimore County Sheriff K-9, and Zander, a retired Massachusetts State Police K-9, both rescued by Save-A-Vet, and both truly marvelous dogs.
For more information about this much needed, life-saving organization, and to find out how you can help both our disabled veterans and our very deserving retired military, homeland security, and law enforcement dogs, please visit: www.saveavet.org.
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