The organizers of the National Service Animals Monument have received the green light to move forward with plans to create a memorial in the Washington, D.C. area to honor service animals and their handlers. 

The memorial will feature statues of dogs, dolphins, birds, mules, horses, donkeys and other animals who have either served their country or provided therapy to people.

“There has never been any recognition for these animals. This memorial will give them and their handlers the recognition they so deserve,” said Theresa Brandon, president of National Service Animals Monument Inc.

This long overdue national recognition for service animals is the result of bipartisan legislation signed into law by President Biden in late December. The National Service Animals Memorial Act was included as part of the bipartisan omnibus for the 2023 Appropriations Bill.

Susan Bahary is the artist and visionary behind the memorial. She intends for it to be a “place of education, inspiration, healing and honor where people of all ages can come to pay tribute to animals who have served and done so much for us.”

She envisions a park-like setting with paths leading to bronze sculptures. There will be informational plaques and a mobile app that allows visitors to learn the true stories of service animals. The artist’s goal is to “raise compassion for those who do for others.”

In 1994, Bahary was commissioned to do the country's first war dog memorial, “Always Faithful,” a life-sized bronze monument that honors dogs who served in World War II. She said creating that memorial “opened my heart and eyes to people who served us during the war.

“To see their 50-year connection to the dogs that served alongside them and saved their lives touched my heart,” she said.

Brandon learned about service animals’ wartime role in 1985, when she served as a corporal assigned to the Marine Corps Band with the III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, Japan. That's where she met Sgt. Chopper, a dog who served in Japan with the Marines.

In 2011, while working for the U.S. Department of Labor, she became aware of a pet cemetery outside of Dallas that had been deserted and was to be auctioned. Over 5,000 animals were buried there. Brandon decided she had to do something.

“Now that a door of opportunity opened before me, I can't desert it,” she thought.

Brandon quickly assembled a board of directors and formed a nonprofit organization to purchase the pet cemetery in 2012 and protect the animals buried there.

Bahary, meanwhile, had created several other monuments to military dogs. She believed that this country needed to go further and honor all service animals.

She learned about Brandon’s rescue of the Texas pet cemetery and plans to include a service dog memorial there. Bahary contacted Brandon and received the commission to build a bronze statue in the likeness of Titus, a Belgian Malinois who served the Cedar Hill Police Department. On May 31, 2014, “Enduring Valor” was dedicated and keeps watch over Cedar Hill Pet Memorial Park.

That partnership prompted Bahary to contact Brandon once again in May 2021 to see if she would consider joining a national board to create the National Service Animals Monument.  The two joined forces on the National Service Animals Memorial Act, which was introduced in Congress in January 2022.

With Phase 1 complete, the group has started Phase 2, a capital campaign to raise funds for the memorial. The legislation stipulates that no federal funds can be used. Bahary is optimistic that people will want to support the effort, “which is illustrative of what the memorial is designed to reflect — compassion. honor and service.”

“I'm told getting the bill signed is the hardest part,” she said.

To support the memorial, go to www.nationalserviceanimalsmonument.org. Donors of $50 or more receive two purple poppy pins designed by Bahary. Those who wish to donate larger amounts can email brandon@nsamproject.org.

Bahary hopes memorial visitors one day “will have a newfound appreciation of what animals have done to serve and protect all of us.

“All of my work is a labor of love,” she said.

First Published: February 15, 2023, 11:00 a.m.