Sitting in his corner office, situated within Old Dominion Animal Health Center in McLean, Bob Youngblood works, unfazed by the sound of barking dogs in the next room. He’s used to it—he’s been around dogs for nearly 30 years now.
As the founder and president of Paws of Honor, a nonprofit organization founded in 2015 that provides veterinary care for retired law enforcement dogs, Youngblood has a strong connection to man’s best friend.
It all started after 9/11. He recalls seeing the plume of dark, black smoke rising from the Pentagon, only 10 miles away from his office. Yet that was just the beginning.
“Two to three days later, all the Pentagon officers and their dogs started coming in who had been searching through the rubble,” he says. “They had chemical burns on their paws, respiratory issues, they were a mess—they had been working for 72 hours straight. I went into some of the exam rooms and at that moment I saw the bond between the handlers and their K-9s. It was a bond not dissimilar to a parent and a child. And at that point, I went ‘Oh my gosh, this is really amazing stuff.’”
Youngblood turned his attention to the issue of caring for retired law enforcement dogs, an issue that has been largely unaddressed in the area.
“Once a K-9 is retired, the federal government or local governments don’t pay for any of the veterinary care—they essentially treat them like a piece of equipment, like an old car or like a shovel,” he says. “Once [the dog] starts showing wear and tear, or doesn’t work as well as it used to anymore, they go to the handler and say ‘you have two options: one, you can take care of the dog, we will write a letter of decommission and you accept all responsibility financially for the dog. Or, you find a home for it or put it to sleep.’”
Law enforcement dogs face greater health issues in addition to those that typical old dogs suffer from. Arthritis is the leading health concern, followed by PTSD and other anxiety disorders, a result from working around bombs, guns and other harmful devices.
For Youngblood, turnover is the most upsetting issue.
“All these handlers, once their dog is retired, they’re assigned a new K-9” he says. “So that retired [dog] sees dad leave every day with a new dog to go work and come back and that puts a lot of anxiety on these dogs because they’re so bonded with those handlers. It makes me teary because when you see these guys with their dogs it’s like a dad with a new baby—this dog saved his life.“
On average, it costs $1,000-$2,000 annually to care for a retired K-9. However, for law enforcement, these costs are often too high in comparison to the amount of money they make. Paws of Honor exists to help alleviate any concerns handlers might face when seeking help for their retired companions.
Working with other companies in the dog care industry, the organization provides products and services to retired law enforcement K-9s for free. Over the past two-and-a-half years, over $420,000 in benefits have been provided to 108 K-9s in the program.
The organization currently operates within a 40-mile radius from Washington, D.C., due to financial restraints but hopes to expand nationally and offer its services in all 50 states within the next five years.
Youngblood hopes Paws of Honor can sign on more sponsors so the organization can continue to provide its services for even more dogs.
“We need somebody we can count on to make a five- or 10-year commitment,” he says. “It’s an easy story, it’s not complicated—there’s a huge need out there.”
Despite a hopeful yet uncertain future, Youngblood remains adamant in the cause—he never forgets how much these dogs mean to their handlers.
“A lot of these K-9s have been over to Afghanistan; these guys use them as pillows at night, they keep them alive, they alert them to danger, they’re going in and sniffing bombs, land mines, the whole nine yards,” he says. “These dogs are more than just K-9s, they’re life partners.” // pawsofhonor.org