It was a busy year's end for Tuna the service dog and owner/handler/trainer Carolyn Sires of Branford. On behalf of ECAD (Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities), Tuna and Sires, an ECAD medical liaison who works with veterans, met with members of Congress seeking support for bipartisan bills that benefit service dogs and veterans in November and December.

On Wed. Nov. 20 and Thurs. Nov. 21, Sires and Tuna traveled to D.C. to meet with elected officials to represent Connecticut veterans and their services dogs and discuss co-sponsorship of the House of Representatives (H.R.) bill Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) for Veterans Therapy Act (H.R. 4305).

Sires, who is also a newly-elected member of the 2019-21 Branford Representative Town Meeting (RTM; R, District 5), said she was delighted with the spirit of bipartisanship and support she received from the top congressional representatives who spoke with her  that day.

"Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro's office and [she] herself said that they see no reason they couldn't co-sponsor a bipartisan bill; especially since speaker Nancy Pelosi met with us that Wednesday night to discuss her involvement with this bill," said Sires. "Senator Blumenthal's office is looking into the transportation issues with service dogs versus those who buy a vest for their dog. And we came to a conclusion there are laws on the books that just need to be really reinforced by transportation – airlines, railway and bus."

Their trip also included an invitation from the U.S. Congress to attend a Nov. 20 screening of the 2019 documentary, "To Be of Service" in the Congressional Auditorium at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. Written and directed by Josh Aronson, the film is about veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) "...who find that, after other treatments fall short, a service dog helps them return to an independent-feeling life," according to information shared at https://www.tobeofservicefilm.com/

In mid-December, Connecticut Congressional members invited Sires and Tuna back to D.C., where they toured the city and were guests on tours at the White House, the Pentagon, FBI (Quantico, VA); and did more work on behalf of gaining support in congress for the PAWS Act, she said.

"[It was] a wonderful and productive trip to Washington D.C., meeting some members of Congress and getting verbal support for the PAWS Act; and I may say, bipartisan support," she said. "We can, and should, all work together to benefit the greater good."

The recent visits to D.C. wasn't the first time at the capitol for Sires and a service canine: in January 2017, Sires and her service dog, Blue, accompanied three Connecticut veterans to attend the Presidential Inauguration, at the invitation of Congresswoman DeLauro.  Sires and Blue were there to assist the veterans and to help make the inauguration experience accessible to them. Sadly, Blue passed away in October 2019.