A pilot program aimed at teaching military veterans how to train service dogs to help them cope with issues like post traumatic stress disorder is one step closer to becoming a reality.

The program proposed in HB 1112 by Rep. Lois Landgraf, R-Fountain, would spend $130,000 from the state’s Veterans Trust Fund. The bill passed the House Public Health Care and Human Services committee on an 11-2 vote Monday.

“It’s important because it will save veterans lives. And I really believe that veterans have given everything to us and we deserve to do what we can to help them,” Landgraf said after the vote.

[vimeo 158390267 w=700 h=393] Don Martin, a board member of the nonprofit Freedom Service Dogs and soon-to-be brother-in-law of Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose, testified about how important he believed the dogs are to turning around the lives of veterans suffering from PTSD.

Both Reps. Justin Everett, R-Littleton, and Tim Leonard, R-Evergreen, voted against the bill.

Leonard said he supports the program but that he believes it should be funded through the federal Department of Veterans Affairs or through public charities. He said the VA likely would see massive savings if the dog program moved veterans off medication and counseling.

Everett agreed.

“How can you go wrong with a bill that supports puppies and veterans, this sells itself?” Everett said in an email response to The Statesman. “This is exactly why this noble program could be easily funded through a tax deductible nonprofit without the government subsidizing or intervening. This also takes money out of a fund that funds existing veterans programs and initiatives.”

Landgraf said the innovative program should make the case for itself.

“I’m hoping the pilot program will become a regular program,” she said. “I’d like it to be self-sustaining so that the organizations that apply for and are chosen to run these programs, that they figure out a way to keep doing it. I’m also hoping it will move to other states that will get the research information back to show the importance and that it will be funded at the federal level.”

— ramsey@coloradostatesman.com