Dec. 2, 2014

Purple Heart recipient to present seminar on service dogs, veterans

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A U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Purple Heart recipient is set to speak at NDSU about the impact of matching service dogs with veterans. 

Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran Geoff Zehnacker and his service dog, Luke, are scheduled to present a seminar on Wednesday, Dec. 3, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Memorial Union Room of Nations as part of the NDSU Animal Assisted Therapy Speaker Series. The seminar is free and open to the public.

Zehnacker served in the Marine Corps from 1996-2010. He was deployed three times during Operation Iraqi Freedom and was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries sustained during his second tour.

In 2005, Zehnacker was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury. He medically retired from the military in 2010. That same year, his dog Luke became an official service dog.

Zehnacker is past president of Patriot Assistance Dogs, a nonprofit organization that matches service dogs with veterans in need.

The talk is presented through a collaboration of the NDSU Department of Animal Sciences; NDSU Counseling Center; Office of Registration and Records’ Military and Veterans Services; Department of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences; and the NDSU Equity and Diversity Center.

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