Veteran, church at odds over PTSD dog at Sunday service
Pastor denies that Fort Campbell soldier and his service animal were told to leave
Leaf-Chronicle
Philip Grey
Aug. 7, 2013
CLARKSVILLE, TENN. — A Sunday incident involving an active-duty soldier with PTSD and an area church is highlighting the tensions between soldiers and veterans with PTSD service dogs and many places unfamiliar with service animals other than seeing-eye dogs.
“It’s just that the last place one would think there would be a problem is inside a place of inclusiveness like a church,” said Lea Patterson, a TADSAW (Train a Dog, Save A Warrior) program-certified trainer who owns Total Canine Care in Clarksville.
Patterson said that she has 20 veterans and soldiers with service dogs in training in her program and that, at least once a week, one of them is asked to leave a public place because of their dog. However, she said, having one of her veterans being asked to leave a church was a first.
Greater Missionary Baptist Church on Ringgold Road has their version of the story. The soldier – Spc. Kristofer Magstadt of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division – has a different version.
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