VA study of service dogs for vets with PTSD faces questions

People acting erratic, says Aguirre, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after three tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.



Since 2002, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has paid veterinary bills to veterans with guide or service dogs for physical disabilities.

[...] the agency is in the midst of a $12 million study to gauge the efficacy and costs of using dogs to help those who suffer from post-traumatic stress.

[...] they are reliant on the dog, not on their knowledge of ... whether really they are afraid of a ghost, said Dr. Edna Foa, director of the Center for Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Yet the agency is authorized to pay only for “evidence-based” therapies such as cognitive processing and prolonged exposure, which involve having veterans confront and analyze traumatic events.