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Veterans Service Animal Program — Funded Through Organisations, Not the State

A state fund pays organisations that train service dogs and run equine-assisted therapy for Maryland veterans. Since 2025 spouses and dependants count as participants too. The department itself places no animals.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

A state fund pays organisations that train service dogs and run equine-assisted therapy for Maryland veterans. Since 2025 spouses and dependants count as participants too. The department itself places no animals.

What it's worth: Trained service dogs and equine-assisted therapy through a funded organisation

  • The State funds organisations rather than reimbursing veterans, so there is no award figure attached to an individual to publish.
  • A trained service dog is a large sum in the commercial market. We do not translate that into a value here, because what a veteran actually receives depends on which grantee they reach and what that grantee is funded to provide.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are the veteran, or a spouse or dependant.
  • The character of service is other than dishonorable.
  • Your home is in Maryland.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Do not apply to the State. The department states it does not train service animals for placement with veterans living with disabilities — it makes grants to organisations that do.
  2. 2Ask the department which organisations are currently funded, then approach those organisations directly. The grantee sets its own intake.
  3. 3If you are a spouse or dependant, say so. Eligibility was widened in 2025 to include veteran spouses and dependants as programme participants.
  4. 4Expect a Maryland residency test: the funded organisations serve Maryland veterans and their eligible family members.
  5. 5Ask about equine-assisted therapy as well as dogs. The fund covers both, and the waiting position can be very different between them.
File with
A grantee organisation funded by the Maryland Veterans Service Animal Program
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThis is not a route to a service dog from the State. The department says plainly that it does not train service animals for placement. A veteran who applies to the department instead of to a funded organisation has applied to the wrong body.
Worth knowingThe programme and its fund were established by the General Assembly in 2017 and took effect on 1 July 2017, with amendments in 2019 and 2025. The 2025 amendment is the one that brought spouses and dependants in, so a family member refused before that year should ask again.
Known gapThe department does not publish, on this page, the list of currently funded organisations or any waiting time. Both are the things a veteran actually needs, so ask for them by name.

Sources

Why only one source type: The department administers the fund and states on its own page what the programme does, who counts as a participant, and that it does not itself place animals. We could not read the enabling Act at source this session, so we do not cite a statute section.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.