
Our Story
Our story began several years ago when a few driven and caring professionals coalesced around a common theme, moved to the core by an up close and personal encounter with what became our cause and mission.
K9s on The Front Line was founded in 2016 when Hagen Blaszyk and Linda Murray realized the intended bandwidth of their mission to provide Service Dogs to combat Veterans could not be met by partnering with any of Maine’s existing organizations. Blaszyk and Murray had met the previous year while training their own dogs at a local K9 training facility, where Law Enforcement K9 handlers were working with dogs that would eventually become Service K9s for a small group of combat Veterans in North Carolina. Witnessing the process and the impact of the ‘final product delivered’ exposed the pair to an immense need for many of our military Veterans. It was then that Blaszyk and Murray recruited a small group of compassionate patriots to serve as founding board members and moved K9sOTFL decisively forward. K9s on The Front Line has continued to grow and evolve since 2016 and we are grateful for the amazing partnerships we have created with local and national organizations and citizen patriots nationwide. We have been touched by our Veterans and their families, who continue to spread the word about our organization and its impact.
PTSD develops as a normal reaction to a highly abnormal, traumatic situation. The after-effects of combat have lingered with our Veterans for far too long, exacting a brutal toll on their lives. Every single day, 22 families in the US loose a military veteran to suicide linked directly to PTSD. It can take years after exiting the service for post-traumatic stress to be identified, with symptoms often presenting themselves like a moving target. At the same time, more than a million shelter dogs are euthanized annually. K9s on The Front Line’s program saves such dogs, and they in turn save their Veteran recipients; both having their second chance at life with more meaning, hope, purpose and partnership than ever.
Co-Founder, President and CEO
Co-Founder, Vice President
Director of Veteran Relations
Board Member
Board Member & Program Administrator
Treasurer & Director of Finance
Board Member
This is an advanced program for Veterans who need a fully trained and certified Service Dog that allows access to all public places as defined by ADA federal law.
This is a more basic program for Veterans who don’t need a fully trained PTSD Service Dog, but would benefit from a well-trained, four-legged companion.
As a nonprofit that provides our services to Veterans completely free-of-charge, financial transparency is important to us.
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