Dogtopia Partners with Retired Command Sergeant Major Gretchen Evans on Dogs Save Lives Campaign

The national dog daycare franchise Dogtopia has announced their new Dogs Save Lives campaign, which runs through Veterans Day and will be headed up by retired Command Sergeant Major (CSM) Gretchen Evans. The campaign will include national speaking engagements and a limited-edition Dogs Save Lives t-shirt that will benefit the brand’s Dogtopia Foundation and its mission to provide service dogs for veterans.  

“We are incredibly fortunate to have Gretchen as our ambassador for our Dogs Save Lives campaign,” said Dogtopia CEO Neil Gill. “She is a servant leader who has pivoted her life’s purpose in a powerful way and with a very important message that resonates with anyone who has a dog in their life. Our hope is to see thousands of people across the country wearing Dogs Save Lives tees and getting behind this noble cause and Gretchen absolutely has the gumption to make it happen.”

The Dogs Save Lives campaign is an effort to raise public awareness of service dogs for veterans by highlighting the experience of CSM Evans, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and total hearing loss that ended her 27-year military career when a rocket blast threw her headfirst into a concrete bunker. America’s VetDogs, a nonprofit service that trains and places service dogs with veterans, first responders and active-duty service members with disabilities free of charge, introduced her to Aura, a service dog who became her ears and loyal companion. Evans credits Aura with saving her life and is now on a mission to amplify the importance of service dogs for veterans as the ambassador of Dogs Save Lives.

“I am living proof that dogs save lives,” said Evans. “I’ll wear this T-shirt proudly as both an ambassador and as a personal testimony to the incredible healing power that dogs have in the lives of their humans.”