Soldier On Service Dogs Accused of Mistreatment and Selling Dogs

Soldier On Service Dogs Accused of Mistreatment and Selling Donated Dogs
NWA News
By Erika Hall
Published 12/05 2016

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.

Arkansas has one of the highest per-capita veteran populations with an estimated 2,500 Arkansans in need of service dogs.

As of now there's no regulation when it comes to trainers, and no regulated certification for service dog teams.

KNWA News investigated how many inadequately trained dogs still carry the honored title.

In Fayetteville, Soldier on Service Dogs was recently accused of mistreatment and selling donated dogs.

"I mean I donated these dogs for free and I know that they took a donation or they sold the pups," animal breeder Rick Dodson said.

Dodson works in Tennessee, and donated five full-blooded German Shepherd pups valued at $1,500 a piece to Fayetteville's Soldier on Service Dogs non-profit, run by Angie Pratt.

After ten months of K-9 training with volunteer puppy handlers and trainers, the non-profit washed out all five dogs, meaning they were unfit to serve a veteran.
read more here

Air Force Veteran Hired By Lowes, So Was His Dog!

This vet couldn’t work without his service dog. So Lowe’s hired them both.
Star Telegram
BY RYAN OSBORNE
December 6, 2016

I love Abilene Lowes, way to go! This is a disabled vet who struggled to get a job because he needs his service dog! Lowes hired them BOTH!!

Clay Luthy’s bad knees have been operated on five times over the years, and they kept him from re-enlisting in the Air Force. He can’t bend his left one, and he has to go easy on his right.

But that’s why he has Charlotte, a 10-year-old golden retriever who also happens to be his co-worker at a Lowe’s store in Abilene.

The Abilene Reporter-News profiled Luthy and his service dog last month, but the duo turned famous over the weekend, when a Lowe’s shopper posted a Facebook photo of them standing together in the store.
read more here

Dolly And Chesty Helped USO at Muldoon's

 Dolly's 8th Annual USO Benefit at Muldoon's

 Sgt. Dave Matthews Never Forgotten Memorials

 These Marines named the bear I donated "Chesty"

 Charles Rogers, Chairman USO Central Florida

 And this is Dolly

 Charles presented Dolly with a USO Challenge Coin

Pipeline Protest Veterans Say "Shoot us first"

‘Wanna burn the US constitution? Shoot at us first’: Veterans prepare to aid DAPL protesters
RT News
Published time: 3 Dec, 2016

“What you do to the water protectors you do to the United States Constitution. We are sworn to uphold and protect the United States Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And they’re saying listen, if you wanna burn the United States Constitution, you have to go through us. It’s quite a brave and amazing act that’s never happened in the history of the United States, that two thousand veterans just said you know what? Shoot at us first.”

Veterans have a confrontation with police on Backwater bridge during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S., December 1, 2016. © Stephanie Keith / Reuters

US military veterans continue to arrive at Standing Rock, with up to 3,500 expected in total. They are due to meet with tribal elders to discuss how they can best help the ongoing protest, marked by heavy police force and bitterly cold weather conditions. Members of “Veterans Stand for Standing Rock,” who have been told to bring supplies such as gas masks, earplugs and body armor (but no drugs, alcohol or weapons), plan to form a human shield around protesters to protect them against rubber bullets and the police.
read more here

USA: Military veterans come out in support of Oceti Sakowin Camp
Military veterans arrived at the Oceti Sakowin Camp on Friday to brave the harsh temperatures alongside activists, self-proclaimed 'water protectors', to stop the North Dakota Pipeline.

Ret. Army Captain Court Filled With Duty and Loyalty

Former officer's courtroom is filled with a sense of duty, loyalty
Houston Chronicle
By Lisa Falkenberg
December 3, 2016

Davis, who struggled to cope back home in Houston after 22 years in the military, was the poster child for Carter's cause.

"That sense of loss was devastating for him," Carter told me in an interview in September. "For a time, he lived as an angry, miserable son of a bitch. But now, he is one of the most beautiful, inspiring individuals you'll ever meet."

First Sgt. Arthur Davis displays his uniform on Friday. Davis was out of the Marines for one year when he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He pleaded guilty and went to veterans court. Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Staff / © 2016 Houston Chronicle

State District Judge Marc Carter remembers sizing up the man before him in late 2009: a grim-faced, middle-aged guy with a U.S. Marine's bearing and politeness, but with eyes closed off to the world, skeptical of everyone and everything.

Carter, a retired Army captain, would explain to retired 1st Sgt. Arthur Davis that his court was different, that veterans got a fair shake here. That everything he might need - drug treatment, psychological therapy, housing assistance, employment assistance, a second chance - was available. He just had to want them.

Davis wasn't sold. He was new to the criminal justice system, and the only good thing he'd seen was another judge step down and thank him for his service - right after sentencing him to probation for an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Carter knew Davis needed more than a handshake. He needed the program that the Republican judge had pioneered in Harris County for veterans facing criminal charges.
read more here