How To Be Smarter Than Celebrities Are About Service Dog Programs

Posted on | May 13, 2009 | No Comments

Based on some of the things I’ve been reading online and seeing on TV today, looks like it’s a really good time to say this yet again:

I don’t care if you “heard about it on Oprah”, or you read about it here on my blog, or a well-known veterans organization is associated with it, or Charity Navigator gives it four stars (a discussion for another time, but for now note it’s significant that they are currently changing their methodology), or your best friend told you about it, or even if someone in your own family actually has a dog from the organization. Do your own research - the good places can stand up to the scrutiny, the not-so-great ones can’t, and the onus is on them to provide you the answers to your questions.

There’s lots more I could say (and have actually already said here: “Tough Questions You Need To Ask About Every Service Dog Organization”), but I’m a little tight on time right now, so let me make this simple:

When you see a story about service dogs for veterans, no matter how good it sounds or how touching it is, the very first thing you need to do is to go to the Assistance Dogs International list of accredited members and see if the organization is on it:

http://www.assistancedogsinternational.org/membershipdirectory.php

If so, great; if not, I’d suggest you find another place that is accredited to support – it’s that simple.

Sure, the non-accredited organization could still be a good place, but with so many great organizations on the ADI list who have taken the necessary steps to be accredited (and all of whom could use your help), why would you turn to a place that hasn’t? Doesn’t make sense to me.

Plus, if a regular old guy like me knows that’s the first thing you should be looking for, then why can’t celebrities who have lots of money, research staffs, and pretty much every resource available figure that out? You got me.

Let me be perfectly clear – this isn’t about personal favorites; it’s about the troops and doing what’s truly best to support them. ADI accreditation isn’t some club membership – it’s a very serious evaluation that tells you a lot about an organization. And not having it tells you something about an organization, too – at the very least, they’ve made a conscious choice not to seek accreditation. At the very worst…well, let’s not talk about that.

Remember – just because you buy into a great idea, doesn’t mean you also have to buy in to the organization that’s pushing that idea. If you see what you think is a great story about service dogs for wounded veterans, that doesn’t mean you have to support the organization you see in that story – if you’re willing to do a little looking, you may very well find there are much better places to support.

Please – all I ask is that you look closely – very closely. You may be surprised what you see – and, more importantly, don’t see.