BILLINGS — A Montana nonprofit that pairs veterans with service dogs is warning that its largest source of funding could disappear at the end of the year and says the loss would have potentially life-threatening consequences.
Learn how cuts to critical funding could impact a local nonprofit that helps benefit veterans:
Dog Tag Buddies is based in Billings and operates seven training sites across the state. The organization relies primarily on a federal grant, the Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program, for about 80% of its budget, but Congress did not appropriate funds for the program in the fiscal 2026 budget.
It's left many veteran service organizations scrambling to prepare for the abrupt loss of millions of dollars nationwide.
For Army veteran Hollie Koenigsberg, the nonprofit’s program has been nothing short of lifesaving. Koenigsberg, who served from 2004 to 2010 and lives with PTSD, said her service dog, Zulu, helped her regain control of her life.
"If you had asked me four years ago if I would be here, I would have said there's no way," said Koenigsberg.
The nonprofit teaches veterans to train their own service dogs during a two-year program that comes at no cost to participants.
"Helps you realize what you're capable of and that those wounds that you have, whether they're mental or even physical, don't have to be something that defines you and holds you back," said Koenigsberg. "My whole life has changed, honestly, and a lot of that is due to Dog Tag Buddies.”
Executive Director DeeDe Baker has helped over a hundred veterans like Koenigsberg find a more therapeutic way to heal. According to a study from the National Institutes of Health, veterans who use service dogs typically experience fewer PTSD and depression symptoms, less social isolation, and less suicidal ideation.
"Depending on the numbers you look at, (Montana is) usually in the top four for demographics of veteran population per capita. We are also unfortunately in the top five for death by suicide," said Baker. "What we're finding was that the service dogs were really a way to kind of bridge that gap, especially in a rural state like Montana."
Baker said the grant, which comes from the Department of Defense and was created in 2015, has been the backbone of the organization’s growth since 2018. With $600,000 in funding for this year alone, Dog Tag Buddies graduated 14 trained service-dog teams, with 20 more currently in training and 15 veteran applications pending.
“The VA does not recognize, acknowledge, or help pay for PTSD service dogs,” said Baker. "I could not serve the number of veterans that I do today without this."
The federal program has provided $16 million over the past two years to 28 service-dog organizations in 23 states. Each service dog costs Dog Tag Buddies roughly $30,000 to provide, covering everything from veterinary care to food, equipment, gas cards, and hotel stays for rural veterans traveling for training.
The program’s funding was included in the House version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act but was removed in the Senate, Baker said. While an increase is proposed for next year, there is no guarantee lawmakers will act in time.
"It's not that the funding went away. It's the law. It's already a program of record," said Baker. "It went into the Senate, and it got removed.”
Without the money, Baker said she and other organizations may be forced to reduce staff, many of whom are veterans, and significantly cut the number of teams the organization can train. Wait times, already up to two years for some veterans, could grow even longer.
Baker traveled to Washington, D.C., in September to speak with Montana’s congressional delegation but was only able to meet with staff members. She and other nonprofits are now urging Congress to restore funding through reprogramming or a supplemental appropriations bill.
"It's discouraging,” said Baker. "I don't think that even sitting down and having these conversations with them, that they fully understood the impact that it has on the organizations and the veterans that we are trying to serve."
She stressed that for many veterans, a service dog is a last resort after counseling, medication, and traditional VA treatments have failed.
"A service dog is not their first choice, but when they walk through my door, and they say, 'I feel like this is my last chance,' That's a huge burden to carry for them,” said Baker.
For those like Koenigsberg, having access to the program offers hope to veterans who may feel they have none left.
"There's so many veterans that are still hurting and still need help and still need hope, and programs like this provide those resources and provide that sort of help for them to be able to continue to transition," said Koenigsberg.
Baker remains hopeful but pleads for Congress to keep the life-saving assistance so many veterans across the country rely on.
“If Congress truly supports veterans the way they say they do," said Baker. "This is a way they can show it.”
