Believet
On Wednesday January 16 we had the pleasure of hearing from Sam Daly, owner Northfield Kennels and founder of Believet.
Believet is an organization that trains service dogs for veterans. Sam has been a trainer for 30 years and in his career has been a military contractor to train bomb dogs. During his time with the military he did two (2) seven-month tours in Afghanistan to be with the dogs to continue their training. Sam could see the need for support and service for our veterans. Service men and women returning home with PTSD, invisible wounds, that need to tended to. Believet trains highly skilled dogs to do many, many different tasks for their owners. Dogs do not cure PTSD, they reduce the symptoms for their owners and the dogs effects allow veterans to feel like they can get their lives back.
Training a service dog is a 2-year commitment, and Sam and his volunteers can place 6 or 7 dogs a year. It costs approximately $28,000.00 for a service dog trained by Believet.org, and there is a wait list, and dogs are free of charge to our Veterans. Currently a study is being conducted by Perdue University, service dogs are not a covered therapy for PTSD at this time.
Believet is accredited by Assistance Dogs International and has been through the three-year accreditation process. To learn more about Believet or to support them go to believet.org
Sam is a Rotarian in Northfield and longtime friend our Faribault Rotarian John Fossum. Thank you for joining us Sam - and thank you for what you do for our Veterans.