SAVES Act of 2025

The "Service Dogs Assisting Veterans Act of 2025," also known as the "SAVES Act of 2025," requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a five-year pilot program . This program aims to award competitive grants to nonprofit entities, enabling them to provide service dogs to eligible veterans with specific disabilities. The Secretary must establish this pilot program within 24 months of the Act's enactment. Nonprofit entities seeking grants must submit applications detailing their plans for providing service dogs, including veteran and dog training, and demonstrating compliance with humane standards and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Grant funds, capped at $2,000,000 per grant , are exclusively for programs providing service dogs to eligible veterans. Grant recipients are prohibited from charging veterans for these service dogs and must inform them of VA funding and available benefits. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs is required to provide a commercially available veterinary insurance policy for each service dog, continuing this benefit even after the pilot program concludes. An eligible veteran is defined as one with specific disabilities like blindness, mobility issues, hearing loss, PTSD, or TBI, where a service dog is medically beneficial. The bill authorizes an appropriation of $10,000,000 for each of the five consecutive fiscal years following the pilot program's establishment, with the Secretary also establishing oversight for grant fund usage.