Members of the military are faced with many problems during their careers. One of which is figuring out what to do with their pets while they are away.
Dogs on Deployment can be that answer. No, Fido isn’t going overseas. But you can help care for the furry friend of someone who is.
Dogs on Deployment is a non-profit that connects military families with boarders.
Karen Cataldo and her husband have been volunteering with DoD for five years.
“My portion of volunteering I have done so far is to get out into our communities and spread the word," she said. "So locally I’ve been to Kanine Social, I’ve been to BrewHound, various events in the community so that people can come by and get more information, become knowledgeable about who we are, what we are and later take it to someone else and become more involved themselves.”
She hopes to start boarding soon.
So, what usually happens to pets when military members go on deployment?
“Unfortunately, a lot of them we hear take them to a shelter and then they no longer have their poor pet. And that’s a very sad circumstance that we don’t want to happen," Cataldo said.
“And that’s kind of how the organization was created. Two active duty members both had orders in different parts of the world.” And they didn’t know what to do with their dog. They saw the need and that’s how DoD came about.
Both fosters and military members must fill out extensive profiles including likes, dislikes, pets in your own home, activities, likes/dislikes of your own pets, fenced yard, socialization of your own pets, etc. After building a profile you get a confirmation email and you are in business. The DoD Boarder and the Military Member must actively go on the website and find each other, set up a meet and greet and go from there.
Military members need to also fill out their duty orders into the system, fill out a Boarding Plan and actively look in the DoD system for a DoD Boarder.
Basically, once a match is made, it’s up to the Boarder and military member to come to an agreement about the cost for food and medicine. The military member is also in charge of medical costs. If there are ever any problems, DoD is ready to step in to help. If there’s an emergency, you can apply on a case-by-case basis to get some extra financial help. There’s also a program to help E6 and below get their pets spayed and neutered.
If you would like to volunteer for this organization, or need a foster for your pet, click here to fill out your profile.