SAN ANTONIO — K9s for Warriors helps military veterans suffering from PTSD and other military-related trauma on their road to recovery, and on Thursday KENS 5 was able to get a sneak peek inside the Petco Love K9 Center.
The new facility is coming to San Antonio later this year, as the result of a collaboration between the nonprofit Petco Love and city leaders.
Inside a tiny blue house is where hundreds of lives will be changed. Dogs will be housed at the new facility before they're trained to become service animals.
Founded in 2011, K9s for Warriors trains dogs, mostly from high-kill rescue shelters, and pairs them with a veteran in need at no cost.
"What I got paired with Javlen the world opened up again and it didn't just affect me. It affected my whole family because they were doing things they didn't want to," said one local veteran. "It changed everything for our whole family."
The program has paired nearly 700 veterans with service dogs and rescued more than 1,300 dogs overall.
The Alamo City facility is set to open this fall.