Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan reportedly once called Kaya, a German shepherd frequently padding along the halls of Congress alongside Marine veteran Cole Lyle, the “most powerful lobbyist on the Hill.”
With her large brown eyes, gentle manner and keen ability to read emotions in a room, the service dog swayed every member of the House and Senate to fund service dog training for veterans with mental health conditions.
“She was really an ambassador on Capitol Hill and throughout the country, for all service dogs for veterans who have these issues,” said Lyle, executive director of the veterans advocacy group Mission Roll Call and owner of Kaya for the past nine years.
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Kaya, whose work ensured passage of the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers, or PAWS, for Veterans Therapy Act, died Feb. 4 after a short battle with cancer, just a few months shy of her 9th birthday.
But her legacy will live on, in a pilot program underway at five Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers that are teaching veterans how to train service dogs as part of their personal therapy.
“These dogs really are emotional and mental prosthetics,” Lyle said during an interview Tuesday with Military.com. “It's like losing a part of your heart.”
Lyle served in the Marine Corps from 2008 to 2014, including a deployment to Helmand province in Afghanistan and…
