Las Vegas Volunteer Named Vegas Stronger Champion for Helping Pair Rescue Dogs With Retired Veterans

What happened

KTNV Channel 13 has named Miriam Saadati this month's Vegas Stronger Champion. Saadati fosters dogs for R.W.B. Dog T.A.G.S., a Las Vegas organization that places rescued dogs with retired veterans. The station reported that she received a check for $599 as a token of appreciation for her volunteer work.

Saadati told KTNV her own view of the work was simple: "I just try to be a good human." Find more local stories like this in our community section.

About R.W.B. Dog T.A.G.S.

How the program works

The group's name stands for Red White Blue Dog Training After Government Service, according to KTNV. Its mission is summed up in the phrase "Saving Two Lives At A Time." A veteran gains support, and a rescued dog gets care, a purpose and a second chance.

Volunteers foster the dogs before they are placed with retired veterans. Saadati described the dogs as filling roles as emotional support animals or service dogs for veterans who need them.

Training and yearly goal

KTNV reported that the organization aims to match 13 veterans with 13 dogs each year. It also offers a range of training certification programs for both the veterans and the dogs. People can connect with the group and support its mission through its website, rwbdogtags.org.

One veteran's match

From a Henderson shelter to a working partner

Sheldon Moniz, a retired Marine, is one of the veterans who received a dog through the program. He told KTNV he served a little over nine years and was deployed to Iraq three times. He was medically retired after injuries to his back, his shoulder and other areas.

About nine years ago, after his military career ended, Moniz was paired with Harley Quinn, a rescue from the Henderson shelter. He said he wanted a dog "that could help with my physical injuries as well as my emotional injuries."

What the program gives back

Moniz told KTNV the program gives the dogs a job and purpose, and that going through the classes gives the veterans purpose too. Saadati said the benefits run in every direction. "It's a great emotional support for me, as a foster, and also emotional benefit to the dogs," she told the station.

Why the volunteer was recognized

Moniz credited volunteers like Saadati with making the program possible. He said she is someone the group relies on in a pinch, adding that in an emergency "we know we can count on her to do it."

He also pointed to her role in coordinating fosters. According to Moniz, Saadati is always searching for new foster homes because the organization is always in need of them.

What to watch next

• Whether R.W.B. Dog T.A.G.S. reaches its stated goal of matching 13 veterans with 13 dogs each year.
• The group's ongoing search for foster volunteers, which Moniz described as a constant need.