Editor’s Note: Editor’s Note: If you or somebody you understand is dealing with self-destructive ideas or psychological health matters, please call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or go to the hotline’s website.
CNN
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Kaya, a service dog who worked as a cherished ambassador for PTSD treatment and veterans’ health, has actually passed away, according to her owner.
The 8-year-old German shepherd was euthanized on February 4 after being detected with cancer, her handler, Cole Lyle, informed CNN in an interview.
Kaya stood along with Lyle as he promoted prior to Congress for much better access to service dogs for veterans.
Lyle signed up with the Marine Corps after finishing high school and was released to Afghanistan in 2011. He informed CNN that he was detected with trauma soon after returning from release. But the treatment approaches he was recommended didn’t work for him. And a divorce and joblessness intensified his psychological health obstacles.
“I was really at a very low point in my life and almost became a veteran suicide statistic,” he said.
But motivated by a friend who had a service dog, he looked for among his own and embraced Kaya in Dallas, Texas.
Lyle described that Kaya was particularly trained to aid with his PTSD signs, such as waking him up from problems or licking his face when he was having a stress and anxiety attack. The interventions “help you calm down and kind of breaks the snowball effect of that anger, depression, sadness, whatever it is,” he said.
At the time, he said, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs didn’t offer financing for PTSD service dogs – so he invested $10,000 of his own money embracing and training Kaya. He described that although there are non-profits that offer veterans with service dogs, much of them have wait times of over a year.
Walking around his own neighborhood, Kaya was a discussion starter. Lyle described to curious next-door neighbors why he had a service dog and why dogs can be so advantageous for veterans’ psychological health.
Eventually, these discussions led him to prepare and advocate before Congress for the PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act, which was signed into law in 2021. The law needs the Department of Veterans Affairs to carry out a five-year pilot program to offer training for service dogs for veterans with PTSD.
Lyle said that in addition to carrying out specialized jobs, service dogs likewise serve as “an extraordinarily powerful backstop to veteran suicide.” Caring for the dog can help “provide a sense of purpose.”
“It’s a very powerful backstop when somebody’s feeling that lonely or depressed,” he said.
A poignant video of Kaya’s last flight to Dallas went viral today after Lyle posted it to his own social media.
He described to CNN that she was detected with cancer over Christmas and he decided to take her to Texas one last time, where she was born and where they invested years while he studied at Texas A&M University. A friend operating at Southwest Airlines assisted collaborate the flight, getting Kaya securely and conveniently onto the aircraft in a cart. Once on board, the staff made a statement over the intercom describing Kaya’s story and motivating travelers to “show her some love” on her last flight.
When Lyle and Kaya disembarked the flight, “hundreds of people were cheering and clapping for her and telling her ‘welcome home’ and ‘thank you for your service,’” Lyle said. “It was really an extraordinary moment.”
He said that he had “no idea it was gonna go as viral as it did.”
“But I’m glad it did, because Kaya’s life and legacy deserve to be shared and honored.”
Lyle explained Kaya as “a consummate professional” when she was working. But when her working vest came off, “she was a little diva” who liked to play, he said.
“What made her so extraordinary is that even before she was trained, she was very smart,” he said. “She was just such an intuitive dog.”
Several political leaders, consisting of Kevin McCarthy and Ron DeSantispublished homages to Kaya on social networks after her death.
Lyle said that he hopes even after her death, Kaya’s tradition can continue to sustain efforts to link veterans with service dogs. “Service dogs can save lives,” he said.
“I can’t tell you how many veterans have messaged me and reached out to me in years past and even now and said, ‘you know, Kaya inspired me to get my own dog, because I saw you talk about how powerful she was for you, and if I had not done that, I would have killed myself.’ And I think that is Kaya’s most profound and powerful legacy.”
