Service Dogs for America faces $300,000 deficit after federal cut

A federal funding cut has left Service Dogs for America with a roughly $300,000 deficit, a gap that could slow training, tighten staff capacity and lengthen waits for veterans and families who rely on the Jud nonprofit for help.

The loss is especially serious because the Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program had supported the organization since 2015. Service Dogs for America, based in Jud about 43 miles south of Jamestown, says it is the only accredited nonprofit provider of service dogs in North Dakota and trains mobility assistance, emergency medical response and PTSD service dogs.

A fully trained service dog costs about $25,000, which makes a six-figure shortfall hard to absorb without changes. If the organization cannot close the gap, the impact would not stay on paper in a budget line. It would reach the dogs in training, the trainers who work with them, the inmate canine assistance programs at James River Correctional Center, the North Dakota State Penitentiary and Missouri River Correctional Center, and the people waiting for placements across the state.

The organization’s roots go back to 1989, when Ed Duden, Steve Powers and Michael Goehring founded Great Plains Assistance Dogs Foundation, Inc. Jenny BrodKorb now serves as executive director. That history gives the nonprofit deep local ties, but it also shows how much of the work depends on a steady mix of federal, state and private support.

The federal Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program started as a $1 million pilot in the FY 2015 Defense Appropriations Bill and grew to $16 million in FY 2024. It became a program of record in the FY 2021 NDAA, but Rep. James P. McGovern said in 2024 that its focus had shifted since 2023 toward researching standards for raising service dogs rather than funding nonprofits to expand placement capacity. The 2025 application cycle ran from Jan. 1, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2025, with applications due Oct. 24, 2024.

North Dakota’s Department of Veterans Affairs also offers a PTSD service-dog grant in partnership with Service Dogs for America, and the state says that grant is supported by the 63rd Legislative Assembly and private donors. That gives the program multiple funding streams, but it also underscores how much local and state support now matters if the federal cut is going to be offset. For Jamestown and the surrounding counties, the question is whether those layers of support can keep a homegrown service dog pipeline intact, or whether fewer dogs will be trained and fewer veterans will be served.