14-04-2025
Joint Task Force K9 brunch supports efforts to provide service dogs to veterans, law enforcment officer with PTSD
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Community members and their furry friends came together Sunday for a brunch to help raise money for a nonprofit group that provides service dogs to veterans and law enforcement officers with PTSD.
Keith Holland, the CEO and founder of Joint Task Force K9s, said the Bow Wow Brunch held at the Terrazza 19 restaurant in Myrlte Beach is a great way to get the community together and help spread awareness about their cause.
Holland said the inspiration for the organization came after he tried to commit suicide during active duty after serving 18 1/2 years in the U.S. Army and 15 years as a Green Beret.
'I got my dog from three years after that and saved my life,' he said. 'That's what kind of got me into doing this business here is because somebody reached out and gave me a dog. This is my way of doing God's work and helping those so they don't have to do or go through what I had to go through. When I got my dog, he got me up and off the couch. He gave me a purpose and a mission.'
The organization has provided 17 dogs since it was created in 2022. Hollard said the response from the community has been amazing, especially from those who attended the Bow Wow Brunch to support what they do.
Mary Bair, who brought her 6-year old dog Buttons to the brunch, said the event was a delight.
'[I] think it's wonderful,' she said. 'My husband was a veteran, so it's like, yes, this is nice, and it's nice that everybody has come out to participate. 'I think it's a wonderful charity that is done for the veterans.'
Holland said the Belgian Malinois and Watch Dutch Shepherd mixed breed dogs are specifically good for veterans because they are a working type dog that's similar to what many veterans worked with downrange and on deployments. When veterans leave combat, he said their minds are still wired to be alongside these kinds of dogs.
'They're trained to prevent PTSD attacks from occurring, and the way I do that is [to] collect cortisol samples from their actual handler and train the puppies like this guy right here, and we train them to recognize the cortisol levels going up, which is hormone for stress,' Holland said. 'As that stress level goes up, the puppies will come in, they'll cause you to pet. Once you pet a dog, it lowers your cortisol levels, and you get a dopamine spike. You can't have a PTSD attack without stress.'
Vietnam veteran Ron Thornton, a volunteer with Joint Task Force K9s, said to be able to have the Bow Wow Brunch for friends and their beloved pets is amazing. It also helps other veterans not view post-traumatic stress disorder as a weakness.
'People don't realize what you've gone through,' he said. 'You know, you put a facade on, and you're always smiling, but somewhere down inside, you need help. Keith and this organization provide that help for those people that are out there. I urge you, if you do need help, to seek it. there are plenty of organizations out there such as this that will help you.'
Marilyn Got said she was happy to bring her Boxer Sassy and help raise money for the future puppies being given to those in need.
'It's a real need,' Got said. 'I think it's wonderful that they, you know, provide these free of charge and do a lot of intervention and bring in the vets to meet them and spend time with them.'
Holland said he wants to have more events like this one and to keep saving lives one dog at a time.
'Once these dogs go to our veterans and our law enforcement, they just work miracles,' he said. 'They let them live again.'
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Gabby Jonas joined the News13 team as a multimedia journalist in April 2024. She is from Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Kent State University in May 2023. Follow Gabby on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, and read more of her work here.
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