Chris Baity is a man who has dedicated his life to his country and to dogs. He served three combat tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan as a contractor. But there came a time when he realized his work there was finished. Having lost friends and almost his own life—he had stepped on a remote-detonated IED during a mission that luckily did not ignite—Baity decided his time was done serving overseas, but he came home and struggled with the next step in his life.
“Chris was struggling with survivor’s guilt,” says his wife Amanda. “‘Why did I make it back? What is my purpose?’ When he came back from Walter Reed he said, ‘This is why I made it back.’”
While at Walter Reed, Baity saw the impact service dogs were having on returning soldiers, and with his special skills working with dogs—he was a Marine Corps Military Working Dog Handler who earned Top Dog status at Lackland Air Force Base and was one of a few MWD handlers to enter the “Train the Trainer” course with the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Oketz Dog School—he knew he had the ability to still give back to his fellow soldiers.
The Baitys started Semper K9 in 2014 and work with Operation Paws for Homes to rescue shelter dogs who are then trained to become service dogs for wounded veterans, all at no cost to the veteran.
Starting with the hard work of the couple and funds from their own income, the organization has grown to have 125 volunteers and focuses on grants and fundraisers to supplement the $20,000 it takes to train a dog, plus the food and medical costs. Semper K9 has garnered much attention for the work they do, with Chris being named a People magazine “Heroes Among Us” and receiving a visit from Mike Rowe for his show Returning the Favor.
The groups’ efforts are now focused on raising $350,000 to build Camp Semper K9, a training facility where veterans and their families can come and stay while they train with their service dog, again, all free of charge. The Baitys purchased 33 acres in Woodbridge for the facility and have plans to build a campus that will include a large home-like building; ”We have to have something like a big home because ultimately you are training service dogs in a home environment,” says Amanda. “They don’t belong in a kennel environment.” There will also be a village of three tiny homes for veterans and their families to stay, a memorial garden, pavilion, playground and picnic and fire pit areas.
What sets Semper K9 apart from other organizations who provide service dogs to vets is the focus on family, says Amanda. “We bring the entire family in for training. It is about the veteran, but when you enhance the veteran’s quality of life it’s going to enhance the children, the spouse, parents, siblings, co-workers, friends. It just trickles all the way down.” // semperk9.org
