Jan 24, 2019 3 min read

A multimillion-dollar complex for raising and training medical service dogs soon could be on the way to Washington County.

Jack Wagner, the regional development director for Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs, said the group is close to purchasing a 100-acre tract of land in Robinson Township near Route 980.

“We hope to actually close and purchase the site within the next 30 to 45 days and break ground in the spring,” Wagner said. “Hopefully, within a year, we’ll have the campus up and operating.”

Wagner, a former state Senator who served as Pennsylvania’s auditor general from 2005 to 2013, is coordinating the effort to secure the land for the project and raise the $15 million to $20 million necessary for its completion.

“It creates a magnificent opportunity to double the capacity of raising and training medical service dogs, primarily for veterans and first responders, as has been the case with Guardian Angels since its inception,” Wagner said.

Based in Williston, Fla., the nonprofit organization focuses on pairing highly trained dogs with people who have disabilities.

“They are highly trained, very sophisticated dogs that are, in essence, miracle workers that can address post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, mobility issues, seizures, a whole, wide variety of issues that veterans who have served their country deal with,” said Wagner, who received a Purple Heart while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Since its founding in 2010, Guardian Angels provided individuals with more than 300 dogs, about 30 of them in Western Pennsylvania.

“There hasn’t been a single suicide with a veteran who has received a medical service dog,” Wagner said.

The Robinson Township campus, he noted, will have 12 to 14 buildings.

“The majority of the buildings are life-stage buildings for the growth and training of dogs,” he said. “It takes about a year and a half to train a medical service dog, and about every three months, they move to a different stage of life and training. Many of the dogs are bred right there, on campus.”

Providing substantial support for Guardian Angels has been the regional organization Life Changing Service Dogs for Veterans, founded in 2015 and spearheaded by South Strabane Township resident Tony Accamando, a U.S. Army veteran.

The group’s original goal was to raise enough money to provide 22 canine companions, at a cost of $22,000 per dog, with the number representing the number of American veterans who commit suicide daily. Fundraising eventually totaled in excess of $1.3 million, enough to train 60 dogs.

“I never thought it would be this big,” Accamando said. “It’s been so successful, my hope is that Western Pennsylvania can be a model for the rest of the country.”

Accamando announced at a recent Good Guys luncheon in Peters Township that Carol Borden, Guardian Angels founder and executive director, plans to build in Washington County because of the strong support she has in the region. The Good Guys, a group that meets monthly, has contributed substantially, with George D’Angelo and Tom Anderson joining Accamando in generating interest.

For more information, visit www.medicalservicedogs.org. To reach Jack Wagner, call 412-352-1111.