Geneva’s NYC Marathon for Paws & Stripes: Helping Heroes, Saving Rescue Dogs

Paws & Stripes, NYC Marathon

It’s that time of the year… when I spam your feed, but it’s for a good cause, and one close to Geneva and I. She’ll be running the NYC Marathon (clearly weather dependent based on last year) but will raising donations for Paws & Stripes. Paws & Stripes works with dog shelters and rescues dogs which are trained to be companion dogs for American military veterans living with TBI and/or PTSD.

If you can, please donate.

More from Paws & Stripes:

Any veteran from any war knows the suffering involved with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). And now with so many men and women returning from the Middle East, the number of veterans in our country with PTSD is staggering. Add the frequent incidents with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and you have a significant increase in Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) as well. Insurance companies do not cover service dogs to assist veterans with symptoms of PTSD and TBI — which often come together. The usual costs of getting a service dog are great: from $10,000 to $30,000 and sometimes up to $60,000, and would often include countless months seeking grant money to fund the purchase. For a veteran to complete the Paws and Stripesâ„¢ program, the cost is a minimum $2,500 and Paws and Stripesâ„¢ covers the cost through donations. The veterans never pay a penny.

Today we said goodbye…

Iman on the boat in Maine

Sadly, and with heavy hearts, we made the tough decision to ease the pain and suffering of our beloved dog, Iman.

Over the last few weeks she had several ups and downs but steadily began to deteriorate today and into the late night. Considering she was diagnosed with a brain tumor nearly a year ago we felt we were able to extend her life substantially and positively. She’s lived a very special last year.

She will be greatly missed. Here is an early photo right after we gave her and Bowie their names.

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