At The Royal Canadian Legion’s 45th Dominion Convention in 2014, a resolution was passed that allows a branch or district, with prior approval from its provincial command, to use poppy funds to cover costs associated with service dogs for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The amount is not to exceed 25 per cent of the total available in the poppy fund on Sept. 30 of the year preceding the expenditure.

Dominion Executive Council approved additional criteria to be considered when reviewing applications. Since no national training standards for service animals currently exist, the Legion has implemented the following criteria to ensure that due diligence is exercised to protect the veteran and the animal when support to a service-dog provider is considered.

Service-dog providers must be Canadian, be able to show proof of liability insurance and conduct an intake process that determines that the veteran is in the right phase of his or her recovery or treatment to receive a service dog, meaning that the veteran has a doctor’s prescription or recommendation. The veteran must also be financially able to care for the dog.

The Legion continues to support the establishment of national standards. Once a Canadian national standard has been set, this resolution will be revisited.

Legion branches may receive calls or correspondence with requests for poppy funds for service dog providers. The resolution requires a Special Use Expenditure (SUE) authorized by the provincial command.

Dominion Command has not authorized any service dog provider to use the Legion name, badge or logo, and has not entered into a memorandum of understanding with service dog providers.

The Legion is aware that some service providers are using Legion trademarks and approaching branches directly for funding, and has served notice to those to stop misrepresenting Legion support for their activities and to cease using all trademarks or references to the Legion.

If branches receive applications or advertisements from a service-dog provider making any reference to the Legion, you are requested to notify your provincial command immediately.