You can choose from a variety of ways to help including a PayPal or Venmo donation or an Amazon Wishlist purchase. Please use one of the buttons below. It will send you to a secure third-party website to complete the transaction. Thank you!
Our Mission
Shelter to Service is a program started by Shelter Guardians, Inc., and is committed to helping Veterans in need of a service dog. Together with Veteran applicants, we will rescue and train homeless dogs to assist those Veterans with their disabilities. Shelter to Service will work to give purpose to the life of the rescued dog, and a lifeline to the Veteran in need. With respect and compassion for both the dog and the Veteran, Shelter to Service will work to assist them in saving each other.
How the Shelter to Service Program Works
Our training and services are provided to Veterans who qualify at no financial cost to the Veteran. This includes training, equipment, yearly routine vet care, and training support for the life of the dog.
Eligible Veterans are screened through home visits and other measures to ensure that a service dog will be safe in their home environment. This is done before they are partnered with a dog.
We select only dogs that are in need of rescue into a loving home. Once the dog is rescued, he or she goes through a 30 day evaluation period. During the evaluation period the dog receives needed veterinary care and is carefully screened for any behavior issues that might prevent service work (i.e. unknown fears or behaviors in public that cannot be eliminated through training) before they are verified to be a service dog candidate. Dogs that are deemed not to be candidates for service work are still great dogs!!! So, dogs that do not qualify for Service will be offered for adoption to screened adopters who can provide a loving home.
Once the Veteran and dog are matched, the “team” (Veteran and dog) goes through a 6-7 month training program together. Upon graduation, Shelter to Service is still there for the Veteran. We also provide the Veteran and dog training support for the life of the dog, and provide the dog with yearly core vaccines, HW prevention, and preventative Veterinary exams throughout the dog’s years of service.
Who We Serve
Shelter to Service exists to assist and serve Veterans with their disabilities. A trained service dog through our program can assist Veterans that have been diagnosed with any of the following disabilities:
P.T.S.D (post-traumatic stress disorder)
T.B.I. (traumatic brain injury)
Physical disabilities that cause most mobility issues
How You Can Help Veterans
This program is only possible through donors like YOU!!! Here is how you can help!
About Us
Shelter to Service is a program provided through Shelter Guardians, Inc.
About Shelter Guardians: From 2014 to 2023, Shelter Guardians, Inc. has established itself as a very successful animal welfare nonprofit that has supported the homeless and sheltered animals of Rowan County, NC. Shelter Guardians, Inc. is located in Salisbury, NC.
After years of fundraising, networking, and volunteering, Shelter Guardians and their donors have given close to $3,000,000.00 in vaccines, medicines, microchips, toys, beds, stainless crate banks, microchip readers, surgery and medical equipment, facility additions and improvements, etc. to benefit both dogs and cats to the Rowan County Animal Shelter and in the Salisbury community.
The ultimate gift from Shelter Guardians, Inc. to Rowan County homeless animals in June of 2023, was a state of the art $2.5 million dog adoption center that includes complete spay and neuter facilities, 4 adoption rooms, grooming facility, heated and air-conditioned kennels, much needed office space and employee only space, a huge amount of storage, and the list goes on. Also included with the facility are 3 outdoor play areas for dogs with artificial turf.
After the new Nina Dix Dog Adoption Center was given to the county in July of 2023, Shelter Guardians has changed their focus to introduce programs that help dogs directly with adoptions and their quality of life after leaving the shelter.
One of those programs is Have A Heart. In this program, Shelter Guardians, Inc pays for the heartworm treatment of every heartworm positive dog that comes through the shelter. After a dog tests positive for heartworm disease, the shelter veterinarian treats the dog with a medicine Shelter Guardians, Inc. provides. This treatment eventually cures and prevents heartworms for up to a year. This treatment for heartworm positive dogs highly increases the chances of a heartworm positive dog being adopted.
Shelter Guardians also supplies volunteers to the shelter for direct contact with the animals (both dogs and cats) for socialization. Volunteers also market the animals through videos to facilitate adoptions. This includes maintaining a social media presence on the Volunteer page and Tiktok. Volunteers also do special events for the animals held at the shelter.
Another program of Shelter Guardians, Inc. is Shelter to Service. As explained on this website, Shelter to Service pairs rescued dogs with Veterans and then provides an extensive training program for the dog to become a service dog for that Veteran. Dogs are trained to be Service Dogs and perform specific tasks that assists the Veteran with their disability.
Veteran Application
Please complete this form only if you meet these requirements…
(If you are not a Veteran but have questions, please use our Contact page below.)
Please complete the form below to contact us online if you are a veteran applying for a service dog through Shelter to Service. If you do not hear from us within 5 days please resubmit form.
Contact Us
Please use the form below to contact us online.
"*" indicates required fields