Sarasota Veterans Community Joins Forces for Afghanistan Veteran

Veteran with PTSD needs new home for dog
FOX 13 News
By: Crystal Clark
Mar 18, 2015

SARASOTA (FOX 13) - A veteran in Sarasota battling PTSD must now let go of the dog he rescued in Afghanistan to undergo treatment.

A non-profit organization in St. Petersburg hopes to find the dog a new, permanent home.

Kathy Smith, Founder of Dog Tag Heroes, was contacted by a Vietnam War veteran in Sarasota through her Pet Foster Car Program.

The veteran told her about a young soldier who recently returned from Afghanistan.

He is being treated in Sarasota for severe emotional Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The soldier's condition is said to be so severe, he will likely by institutionalized for an indefinite period of time, leaving the dog he raised in Afghanistan and brought back to the states without a caregiver.

"We really want to find a good home for this dog and not let this dog end up in a kennel," said Smith.

According to Smith, the dog is currently in the care of a foster mom in Sarasota.

Smith has made helping veterans her mission in life since her husband, Dennis, a veteran of the Navy, died in 2006 from the effects of Agent Orange.
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