Liberty Dogs 27-acre campus will pair service dogs with veterans – KOLO

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – The ground has been broken on Liberty Dogs – a 27-acre campus for service dogs and veterans – in Damonte Ranch.

Once completed, the facility will offer an immersive three-week program pairing veterans from around the country with a new four-legged best friend free of charge.

“When our vets return, their most important needs are housing, employment, education,” said Kit Miller, Veterans Program Consultant for Liberty Dogs. “But if they’re not in the physical or mental state to fully integrate into those, they’re at a disadvantage.”

The campus and program are a vision-turned-reality for the Dave and Cheryl Duffield Foundation, who have made this project possible along with help from the Di Loreto family in Reno.

While Liberty Dogs will welcome veterans from across the United States, they’ll begin by reaching out to the local veteran population.

“In Washoe County alone, there are about 30-thousand veterans,” said James R. Dougdale, Executive Director of the Dave and Cheryl Duffield Foundation. “There are about 8-thousand that could benefit from this service. We want to be the premier service to go out there and help everybody.”

The campus is expected to be completed by late-2025 to early-2026.

“There’s nothing like Liberty Dogs out here in this part of the country and there’s such a need for our veterans who are suffering from physical and mental disabilities to connect them with a canine,” said Miller. “To have this out here? What a gift.”

You can learn more about what Liberty Dogs will bring to Northern Nevada by visiting their website.

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