Purina Dog Chow announces Visible Impact Award

Purina Dog Chow announced as part of its 5th annual Service Dog Salute program, it will launch its first-ever Visible Impact Award in partnership with the Association of Service Providers for Military Veterans. This new award will celebrate and recognize the impact service dogs working with veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have and the organization that trains these incredible dogs.

"We are grateful to partner with Dog Chow and their Service Dog Salute program," said Jeremiah Blocker, Executive Director of the Association of Service Dog Providers for Military Veterans, in an organizational release.¹ "Their work to highlight the impact of PTSD service dogs allows us to further our mission of advocating for the expanded use of qualified service dogs and ensuring that best practices are utilized by qualified organizations across the country."

Starting today and ending on July 22, 2022, veterans, along with family and friends, can nominate a PTSD service dog to win this new award. Each submission requires a photo of their veteran with their service dog along with a few short essay questions that should be 2000 words or less.

Voting opens to the public from September 1, 2022, through October 17, 2022, to pick between 5 chosen finalists. For every vote, Dog Chow promises to donate $5, until it reaches $75,000, to the Association of Service Dog Providers in order to help the association train more PTSD services dogs for veterans for free. Once voting closes, the grand prize winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize, $25,000 for the organization that trained the winning service dog, and a trip to the National Dog Show presented by Purina.

"This year, the Dog Chow Visible Impact Award provides another way to give back to deserving veterans and their service dogs while continuing to shed light on the impact these dogs provide to veterans with PTSD," said Steve Degnan, veteran and Chief Human Resources Officer for Nestlé Purina North America.

"We hope that our efforts in partnership with the Association of Service Dog Providers help propel this life-saving treatment forward to as many veterans as possible."

To learn more or nominate a PTSD service dog, visit DogChow.com/service.

Reference

Purina Dog Chow Launches "Visible Impact Award" to Recognize Outstanding PTSD Service Dogs. News release. Purina Dog Chow. June 22, 2022. Accessed June 22, 2022. https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/news-releases/purina-dog-chow-launches-visible-impact-award-to-recognize-outstanding-ptsd-service-dogs-301572792.html