Executive Director Rick Yount of the Warrior Canine Connection says that on October 27 trainers and puppy raisers at two locations, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Fort Belvoir, were told to vacate their offices. According to Yount there was no warning and what this means for the program that helps train and pair wounded veterans with service dogs is a mystery. He spoke with Washington, D.C.’s wtop radio.
“At two o’clock in the afternoon, I received a phone call saying there was a stop work order. There was no explanation whatsoever as to why that was the decision,” Yount said.
Asked if there had been an issue with the program, problems with staff or an incident at either of the military sites, Yount said he hasn’t heard anything.
“We’re trying to get answers. Why would — all of the sudden — a program be halted that was serving patients?” Yount asked.
Yount says there have been no incidents of dogs biting or anything of that nature, that would lead to a suspension of services while some kind of investigation took place. He also claims that his program is still contracted through 2019. Maybe this is a misunderstanding but when your new administration is run by a group of incompetent billionaires who spend their lives looking at their own bottom lines, it’s hard to imagine this isn’t just par for the course these days. The program has helped thousands of veterans.
The program has touched 4,000 service members and veterans, founder and Executive Director Rick Yount said.
"It's something outside themselves, and they'll stretch themselves and do things that they never would because they're focused on the mission,” Yount said. “It's not about them."
Veterans can also have a chance to be a part of the training program.
The Warrior Canine Connection training model has volunteers visit with young puppies to socialize them when they are just weeks old. Then the training begins. Volunteer puppy raisers get training on how to handle the dogs at Fort Belvoir and Walter Reed. Veterans have been taking an active part in the training so that eventually the dogs that “graduate” the program can be placed for a life of service alongside a wounded warrior.
The Canine Warrior Connection began back in 2009 and seems to be accomplishing the job they set out to do. Considering what our government is willing to spend money on in the military, there is no budget necessity that would convince me or anyone with half a heart that this program needs “cost-cutting” measures.
Updating: it’s now being reported that the reason for work stoppage on the Canine Warrior Connection is possibly due to contractual ambiguities.
In an email to WTOP Thursday evening, a spokesperson for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center said that a stop work order was issued so that medical officials could “restructure the contract to enhance oversight of patient care.”
What that means exactly is unclear, as is whether or not the Canine Warrior Connection staff and management knew this was an issue. Yount has said he was blindsided by this but that may not be entirely true.
"We are expeditiously updating our Canine Assisted Therapy program to bring an enhanced version back on-line and apologize for any inconvenience or disturbance this temporary pause may bring to our patents and staff's normal routine," Dean said.
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But a former staff member told WTOP that the organization had been told several months ago that it was not adhering to the terms of the contract regarding staffing.
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Yount said Thursday that there were some changes made to the initial 2011 contract regarding qualifications for staffers working directly with veterans, but that it was his understanding that the prime contractor for WCC, a Waldorf-based company called MD Consulting, had worked out an agreement on those requirements, and that everything was in order.
Hopefully everyone involved will get their houses in order sooner than later so that their therapeutic benefits can be once again enjoyed.