UPDATE: Walter Reed told News4 Thursday it stopped its contract with the service dog program "to enhance oversight of patient care." See our updated coverage here.
A program that raises and trains dogs to be companions for wounded veterans has been forced out of two military facilities in the D.C. area, according to a report.
NBC4 news partner WTOP reports that Warrior Canine Connection trainers and and puppy raisers at Fort Belvoir and at two locations on the campus of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, were told on Oct. 27th to vacate their offices.
Warrior Canine Connection Executive Director Rick Yount told WTOP no one has given him any information about why the program was halted at the military sites.
“At two o’clock in the afternoon, I received a phone call saying there was a stop work order. There was no explanation whatsoever as to why that was the decision,” Yount told WTOP.
On an old dairy farm in Boyds, Maryland, Warrior Canine Connection trains golden retriever puppies to be the next generation of service dogs.
The program has touched 4,000 service members and veterans, Yount told News4 in April.
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"It's something outside themselves, and they'll stretch themselves and do things that they never would because they're focused on the mission,” he said. “It's not about them."
