Public policies that should reflect the definitive body of science that show significant positive Health Impacts that companion animals have on human health. The va says it doesnt have enough evidence to support Service Animals for veterans who have pts, we disrespectfully disagree and thats why we support hr4764. We believe there is significant Scientific Evidence to support the efficacy of service dogs for veterans who have pts. We funded the first systematic review on research of animal assisted gervention that was conducted at Purdue University dr. Fallonsal ma matter and it was published less than a year ago and what it found was preliminary evidence that animals provide unique elements to address pts symptoms and i think its also really important to note because mr. Diamond said whats the harm. This systematic review of published and Unpublished Research found no negative effects from any of these studies, so no harm was found in any of the research that we looked at. So, we think this supports the conclusion that service dogs for traumaer trauma survivors can affect depression and anxiety and social outcomes and sleep and quality of life and were currently funding a pilot study on the effects of service dogs on Mental Health and wellness on veterans with pts. Scientists are measuring functioning including symptoms of ptsd, depression, life and relationship satisfaction and quality of life in 137 military veterans diagnosed with ptsd who either have a service dog or who are waiting to receive one and those waiting to receive one are our scientific control group. So, the preliminary unpublished results indicate that military veterans with service dogs exhibit significantly lower overall ptsd symptoms and that means better ability to cope with flashbacks and anxiety attacks and less overall sleep disturbance and lower anxiety and depression and anger and higher levels of companionship and social integration and increased psychological wellbeing and higher levels of life cycle resilience and we have to wait for the final study to be published which we expect to happen later this year but we wanted to bring you the preliminary outcomes because theyre so encouraging and so important to the discussion today. I also urge the committee and the va to look broadly at Research Studies that really look at several key measures of Mental Health and wellbeing like depression, anxiety, stress, and social integration, all of which are associated with pts. My written testimony covers these in great detail and you can find even more studies in our database and thats why an organization like ours can be hopefully really helpful because were looking at the Broad Spectrum of research not just one little narrow slice of it and that Broad Spectrum of research is pretty definitive, you know, for example, were looking at whats happening at a persons brain when they interact with an animal, the level of oxytocin goes up and cortisol goes down and when fingers meet fur theres something really fantastic happening and i think weve heard about some of those specific examples today. You know, if you combine those scientifically documented therapeutic effects with the trained actions of a service dog you get a powerful combination. The americans with disabilities act recognizes service dogs for ptsd and their regulations and states are increasingly updating their definition of Service Animals. Just last year the state of florida passed a law to expand protection of Service Animal statutes to include traumatic brain injury and ptsd and inclusion allows veterans with a disability that may not be outwardly visible to have access to public accommodations with their service dogs. Sometimes the symptoms manifest themselves in public so while pets and emotional support animals can provide some of the benefits weve just been discussing its only a Trained Service dog that has full Public Access that can provide that animal assisted intervention whenever and wherever its really necessary for a veteran with ptsd. You know, what about the doctors on all this . We did a survey last year which showed that of 1,000 doctors which showed that 69 of them have worked with animals in hospitals, medical centers or medical malpractice and 88 of doctors saw improvement in a patients physical condition and 97 saw an improvement in a patients Mental Health condition as a result of animal assisted intervention, doctors are likely to be really supportive if we can get this Program Going and really willing participants as we provide service dogs to veterans with pts. So, i just want to conclude by saying there is a growing body of research that demonstrates widespread positive mental Health Impacts from the humananimal bond and we hope you and the va will take this broad evidence into consideration when shaping Public Health policy, both in relation to 4764 and beyond and i hope the members of the subcommittee and the va will rely on us as a resource. Thats what were here for, to be a Scientific Research for anyone who is interested in this. With pts affecting so many of our veterans we need to make sure that everyone has access to service dogs and hr4764 really is a great step in the right direction and thats why we fully support the legislation. So, mr. Chairman, Ranking Member lynch, members of the committee, i really want to thank you. I want to thank your hardworking staff and especially, mr. Chairman, thank you for your leadership on this issue and im happy to answer any questions you may have. I thank the witnesses. The chair now recognizes himself for five minutes. Dr. Fallon, so why does the va reject pairing a veteran suffering from pts with service dogs . We dont, mr. Chairman. Va is thrilled that service dogs help veterans. Its just as a large medical organization we have to rely on evidencebases medicine. Veteran population is very heterogenous, what helps one wont help all. Have any of the preliminary results pointed to by the witnesses at pursdupurdue, or a else, has that changed the thinking of the va . I would point out in the publication funded by habri dr. Ohare published in 2014, one of the main conclusions was that more Research Needs to be done. Thats right out of the paper. She also documented a number of deficiencies in literature. She also was quoted in a military times article that nonbiased Research Needed to be completed. This was in 2015. That said, so the vas approach to pts, is it fair to say that it relies heavily on pharmaceutic pharmaceuticals . Im a veterinarian. I couldnt but youre not familiar with how these veterans so basically youre here as a veterinarian. You dont have as much knowledge on just pts generally . No. Mr. Chairman, my role here is to update you on our study. I certainly would not pretend to be an expert in human clinical medicine. I think all the indications weve received from witnesses, from veterans are that, you know, you get counseling, you get drugs. I mean, thats kind of the two things. And thats effective for some people but there are other people and i think cole lyle is one that would say thats not good. Maybe you can answer this. But are there dangers associated with providing veterans opioids and other pharmaceuticals to deal with pts . I couldnt comment on that, mr. Chairman. Well, what would you say to that, mr. Diamond . If you look at the wikipedia entry for some of these opioids they clearly set down an entire list of side effects including increased suicide and in our opinion a dog is not going to cause any harm and yet we see every single month our classes, the warriors are transforming. They come in and theyre a wreck. Theyre overmedicated. Theyre lost. Theyre frightened just to have left their homes and we see them over three weeks working with our staff and service dog as the bond kicks in, that they become different people and theyre able to go out the front door again. Theyre able to go to a store again. Theyre able to go to the beach in florida again and these are things they could not do without the service dog. It opens the door and it lowers the barriers to getting other help. And they become more like the people they were before they went off to war. Mr. Feldman, the opioids, is there dangers and side effects to that . Is that accurate to say thats the case . I think pretty much everyone knows that. But i want to respond toing . Dr. Fallon said, you know, were here in washington and theres a lot of people that do regulations. Youre never going to neat a regulator that says we have enough regulations. Youll never meet a researcher who says we have enough research and, of course, we need to continue to do more research and thats what were doing right now, but when you add it up we think theres enough research to substantiate this program. Has there been any research that substantiates dangerous side effects with pairing a veteran with a service dog . No, sir, theres, in fact, an absence of that evidence. Cole lyle, have you had any negative side effects since youve been paired with your service dog . Thats a strong negative, mr. Chairman. So, i mean, i think we all agree that veteran suicides are a major problem. We need to do everything we can to prevent them and i think it makes sense that the va should explore all possible ways that this can be dealt with. And i understand that there may not, you know, people can say, well, we need more literature but, you know, we have enough evidence there that i think its something that is long overdue. Let me ask you this, mr. Feldman, how is the vas opposition to providing service dog harm veterans with pts . Well, i guess ill just speak as a citizen on this one. I just dont think the words veteran and waiting list sort of belong in the same sent edges. And while, you know, canines for warriors and other organizations like it are doing their best to put as many paws on the ground as they possibly can, the only way were really going to get this done is if we have the va providing that kind of support. What about, mr. Diamond, whats your judgment about the vas posture, how has that affected veterans . Its caused lives. Theres no question that there are thousands of veteran suicides that could have been prevented had they had the access to a service dog. And, cole lyle, i know youve been involved in advocacy on this issue. Youve gone through the halls of congress and folken wi espoken. Whats been the reception from members of congress on both sides of the aisle so far . Mr. Chairman, the response has been overwhelmingly supportive. We have bipartisan support on hr4764. This is not a partisan issue. Everybody knows that we need to take care of our veterans. Of course, we have different ideas about how to go about that. But i personally walking the halls of congress and speaking with democrats, republicans, conservatives, liberals, everybody agrees that this is a good idea and that we should do it. Youve done a very good job. I mean, as this bill progresses and we have success some of these guys on k street may be coming after you because of your success in working congress. Mr. Diamond, i think canines for warriors has done a great job. Its part of the district that im privileged to represent. And i know you guys have expanded. And youre there to help, but, i mean, you can only do so much. I mean, i wish you guys could just have unlimited numbers but, you know, so you guys are part of it, but i think we need to have a broader awareness here. But i appreciate all the witnesses for their testimony. And i thank you guys for coming and i now recognize the Ranking Member, mr. Lynch. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Just for the record, we had some hearings over in the senate on veterans and opioid addiction. And this is a 2015 hearing. And in response to questions around opioid disorder by senator joe donnelly of indiana, va indicated that about 68,000 veterans today had or in 2015, had opioid use disorders. Figure represents about 13 of the total population of veterans currently taking opioids according to the va, so thats a lot of veterans. 68,000 have opioid use disorders and thats 13 of the veterans on opioids. Thats a huge, huge problem. A couple of the witnesses have mentioned the costs. And we just had an opportunity to go to iraq last week, anbar province. And they had a couple of dogs there trained, but those are trained for bomb detection. And but i asked. I asked i asked the dod, i said, what does it cost for us to train a dog, in that context. And they said 55,000 each. But thats dod. You know, im not surprised that the private sector is doing it for a heck of a lot less. Its probably apples and oranges. They get trained for something particularly different. But, mr. Lyle, first of all, thank you for your Courageous Service to our country and youre helping veterans still. Is that what that 10,000 that you mentioned, is that what it cost you to yes, sir. Thats what it cost me to acquire kia, to pay for her training and all initial veterinarian care for her. I would note that 10,000 is that acquisition as well . Yes. Yeah. I would note that 10,000 is quite frankly cheap. Yeah. Yeah. For well, the life of the the life of the dog and the benefit that it conveys, youre right, absolutely. Well, the 10,000 i would pay it ten more times if i had to do it over again. Dont let the dod hear you say that. But it has paid dividends in how im able to overcome specific symptoms associated with the military experience, and i would recommend it highly to anybody who feels as though opioids and traditional therapies just arent working for them. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Diamond and mr. Feldman, mr. Diamond first, 17,000 square feet. Im not sure. You mentioned your facility down in florida. And obviously there are efficiencies of scale because youre training so many dogs. How many dogs do you probably train at a time . Right now we have capacity for about 30 dogs on our campus. In a couple months well have capacity for about 60. What do you see in terms of the cost you, you know, more professionally doing it 30 times at a whack, what do you see your costs on average . Were finally seeing economies of scale. Two years ago we were about in the 40s. This past year we were at about 32,000. This year 27,000 and we expect next year for the entire threeweek program plus all the, you know, lifetime, Wraparound Services to be about 22, 23,000, so weve finally hit economies of scale. And i would echo mr. Lyles comments, we think its a savings to the government with the reduction of use of prescription drugs and reduction of use of va services generally speaking and the Higher Quality of life, the human being you get at the end of it is a huge cost savings for the country. Whats the life fan, the average life fan of one of the dogs . Its between 8 and 12 years. 10 years. Yeah. Mr. Lyle, you got Something Else . Congressman lynch, i would note that 8 to 10 years, kia started helping me within weeks. Yeah. It does not take 8 to 12 years for these dogs to really assist veterans. No, no, no, i mean they are training throughout that ten years or so, so thats the service being rendered. You divide the cost of training and acquisition over the ten years, amortize it i guess. Mr. Feldman, you have anything else youd like to add . You mentioned cost. I can tell you that the pilot study looking at 137 veterans, which we announced the funding for last year and which will be completed next month and probably published later this year, that whole study cost upwards of 50,000 and were getting results, you know, within a twoyear period, so, yes, we need to do more research but it doesnt have to take that long or cost that much. Yeah, you know, you see the number of veterans that were treating with opioids. And theres just no happy ending there with the addiction rate we have. So, we got to be we got to try something different. My time as expired. Thank you for your indull jenningindull jennin indulgence. Thank you each for being here today. Dr. Fallon, i noticed that you served in the military. Thank you for your service. When you did serve you served in a veterinary capacity as i understand it. Is that correct . Yes, sir, i was a veterinary technician. In that time in your service, did you develop a bond with the animals under your care . Oh, absolutely sir, yes. Would you say now as a doctor of veterinary medicine, do you develop a nurturing bond with the animals in your care . Absolutely, sir. Do you see dangers associated with pairing service dogs with veterans . Well, as the chairman mentioned, i have seen problems with dogs particularly dogs that are not properly trained. For instance, we had those two children that were bitten which was a tragedy. It certainly didnt help those veterans. Also there are some things to take into consideration if a dog becomes sick, ends up with a chronic illness, there can be huge veterinary bills associated. The veteran can actually become quite depressed. Weve seen this anecdotally. How would you compare that to veterans, say, suffering from opioid abuse, harming their families, maybe their own children, maybe harming others around them and getting in a depressed state, which would you say would be more of a danger . I couldnt comment on that, sir. Im a veterinary. All of those things are terrible things, though. Do you personally think that veterans would berm a e rrm har their association with service dogs . You have a lot of experience. You served in the military. Dealing with animals and youre a doctor of veterinary medicine. Youve done Extensive Research and study i just want to know since you came as an expert testifying before congress, im just curious of your personal opinion, do you personally believe veterans would be harmed by their care and association with service dogs . Im reluctant to give my personal opinion because it could bias the study. I think thats telling. And i appreciate you for being loyal to veterans administration. But i think we have a greater responsibility as a nation to be loyal to our combat veterans and those that have suffered a great deal. Ive handled the flesh and blood of battle on many battlefields to include iraq and afghanistan as a combat infantryman ive dealt with a lot of the issues that were discussing here today. As a veterans advocate before enter