About a year ago, Military Ames visited Kimberley City Council with a request that they allow a statue of a service dog to be placed in Veterans Memorial Park in the downtown area. The proposal also included a columbaria for service dogs.
Military Ames built the park, on city land, in 2016.Council turned down the request at a later meeting.
However, Cindy Postnikoff from Military Ames believes the service dog statue has plenty of public support and she has launched a petition to indicate that support. The petition will request only a statue.
“It is our desire to recognize these ‘medical devices’ and inform and educate our community and visitors about the invaluable benefit they provide,” she said. “Our community has been home to Military Service Dogs for nearly a decade. The impact of these animals has been undeniable. This monument would be second only to the life-size statue of a medical service dog at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
“This memorial will stand as a silent but powerful reminder of the Veterans lives these animals have and currently save. Public and private studies have shown the effectiveness of animals in medical capacities.”
She says service animals, primarily dogs, have been proven to save the lives of our Veterans by way of 24-hour support in a variety of tasks.
“One side-effect of service dogs that is not obvious is that while deescalating some Veterans, they are improving the safety of everyone in the vicinity.
One of our ongoing priorities has been education and awareness. The animals who serve our Veterans in wars abroad and those very same wars and experiences internally when they get home. are an undeniable part of the journey.
“We pride ourselves in that we have installed in excess of forty-five thousand pounds of granite in recognition of our Veterans and serving Members. That is and always will be the foundation and representation of the Kimberley Veteran Memorial Park, Cenotaph and our way of life.”
Postnikoff has some letters of support.
“We continue to support the safety and efficacy of service dogs working with Canadian Veterans”,“Military Ames plans to honour the animals who do this work is certainly a commendable one” – Lawrence MacAulay, PC, MP, Minister of Veterans Affairs (Quoted from a letter of support to Military Ames for this project)
“Community participation and attendance at the Veteran’s Memorial Park to honour Remembrance Day consistently speaks volumes about the esteem in which this community holds not only the fallen, but the broken, and the survivors who must go on after combat. We have seen for ourselves what a service dog and supportive community can do for a veteran’s well-being” – Local Letter of Support
“We thank you in advance for your support and for once again having confidence in Military Ames and our decisions to continue to add to Kimberley’s uniqueness as a community.
You can sign in support at the following businesses; Our Place Restaurant, OV, Old Crow Emporium, Sew Creative, Black Dog Cycle, The Craft Shop/Marysville, Dollar Store, Kimberley Post Office, Kimberley Home Hardware, Kimberley Kritters, Meadowbrook Motors, Timber Hitch, Earths All Naturals, Bavarian Home Hardware and Best Friends Closet.
carolyn.grant@kimberleybulletin.com
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