Media coverage


Where can you find PSDP people in print, on the screen, or on the airwaves?

PSDP media appearances are consolidated here.* If you would like to contact PSDP to set up future media appearances, please leave a message at (805) 876-4256 or email us ( info [at] psych [dot] dog ). PSDP press releases are available elsewhere on our site, as is an excellent service dog reporting guide to enhance service-dog-related reporting.

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2021

• February 19: Chris Green of “The Flea Circus” morning radio show interviewed Veronica and Brad Morris about the basics of psychiatric service dogs and disability.

• February 17: Scott McCartney of The Wall Street Journal‘s “The Middle Seat” column interviewed Brad Morris for an article, “Emotional-Support Animals Are Banned on Airplanes, but Service Dogs Can Still Fly Free“.

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2020

• Winter: Chin Spin magazine published Veronica Morris’s article, “Hestia the Service Dog“, educating readers about the amazing things a small dog can do.

• October 30: Scott Morgan of South Carolina Public Radio interviewed Veronica Morris for a radio story and separate article about how the pandemic has had positive effects on her mental illness.

• August 19: Scott Morgan of South Carolina Public Radio interviewed Brad Morris for a radio story and separate article about being disabled and voting during the pandemic.

• February 19: TaTiana Cash, of local CBS TV news station 7 News out of Spartanburg, South Carolina, interviewed Veronica and Brad Morris in their home for a story about a woman with POTS getting a service dog.

• January 14: The Labyrinth System interviewed Veronica Morris about her mental illness for a YouTube video, “Veronica’s Story: Bipolar Disorder, PTSD and Agoraphobia“.

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2019

• On December 22, 2019, DV Radio invited Veronica and Brad Morris back for a live show about AKC’s “Service Dog Pass” program. The audio can be played just below. The transcript, audio, and the YouTube recording are available here.

• On December 8, 2019, Veronica and Brad Morris were interviewed on DV Radio‘s “The Service Dog Show”. The audio can be played just below and the transcript is available here.

• In June of 2019, Devon Wilkins interviewed board member Brad Morris as a feature on her international podcast, “Spotlight on Assistance Dogs”. After a song played, they talked about the solidarity scarf movement in the service dog community.

• On March 14, 2019, board members Veronica Morris and Brad Morris were again published by The Mighty with their article, “How Small Service Dogs Can Have Benefits Over Larger Dogs“. This article was reprinted as “Service Dogs of Unusual Sizes” with an original addendum in the Summer 2019 edition of “The Canine Professional Journal”, from the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP). (Accessible PDF of IACP’s Summer 2019 journal)

• The Spring 2019 edition of IAADP‘s “Partners Forum” (Vol. 24, No. 1) reprinted our February 12th press release, “Tired of Old Divisions, Service Dog Users Band Together“. The same newsletter edition highlighted our efforts in putting forth a Service Dog in Training Manners Evaluation (“Our Community Knows Best: Beta-test A New Evaluation”).

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2018

• In the August–October 2018 issue of Autism Asperger’s Digest, PSDP board president Veronica Morris was a co-author with Marla Roth-Fisch and Peggy Kelley, MD for the article “Canine Companions: Things You Should Know Before You EmBARK”.

• Our Director of Government Relations, Brad Morris, wrote an article called “Potential PR nightmare: how airlines choose to discriminate“, which appeared on our site on February 28, 2018. The Mighty picked up the story and published it under the title “How Airlines Discriminate Against Psychiatric Service Dog Users” on July 2, 2018.

• The LA Times’ Hugo Martin featured PSDP’s response to close an article on June 3, 2018, titled “So you want a letter saying you need a support dog on that flight? Here’s why a therapist might balk“.

• The Santa Ynez Valley News and Santa Maria Times both published an article on April 16, 2018 about PSDP’s 2018 Convention bus training in Solvang, California. Board member Chanda Hagen is featured in the article titled “Santa Ynez Valley Transit donates bus, driver’s time to help train service dogs”.

• USA Today published an opinion piece, “More animals on airplanes is good“, by Brad Morris, our Director of Government Relations. On the same day, January 31, 2018, USA Today’s Bart Jansen featured Brad in an article titled “An emotional support peacock? Comfort animal or not, some airlines saying no as rules are tightened“.

• PSDP was recognized in a January 24, 2018 article by Aaron B. Clayton on the Karen Pryor Clicker Training Community Blog, titled “Guide-Dog and Assistance-Dog Organizations See Clickers in their Present and Future“.

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2017

• Our own Dr. Veronica Morris wrote an article published by the website The Mighty, titled “I Want Others to See Me, Not Just My Service Dog“. The article appeared June 24, 2017.

• A journalist who covers air travel for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kelly Yamanouchi, featured Brad Morris in an article explaining how an ESA recently biting a Delta passenger has shifted focus back onto updating the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) regulations. The article was published online on June 13, 2017. The newspaper published a companion article on June 14, 2017, with more content from PSDP. A Spokane news site recycled some of the content in an article on July 6, 2017.

• A Wall Street Journal columnist, Scott McCartney, interviewed and obtained background from Brad Morris in a piece about air travel regulations regarding service animals. The article featured PSDP input and was published in “The Middle Seat” column on February 1, 2017.

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2016

• PSDP’s resources are heavily featured and praised Anne Martinez’s book, Saved by the Dog: Unleashing Potential with Psychiatric Service Dogs, published December 27, 2016. Our Board of Directors reviewed an advance copy and described the book thusly: “Ms. Martinez has clearly consolidated information on many aspects of interest to prospective psychiatric service dog handlers.”

• Transit Access Report is a subscription-based paper newsletter reporting on developments in transportation accessibility, published by Letter Publications. As the author of PSDP’s ACAA update guide, Brad Morris was interviewed for an article appearing in the May 10, 2016 edition, “Psychiatric Service Dog Users Seek Parity in Air Access Regs”.

• Sitting down in a half-hour interview, PSDP’s Dr. & Mr. Morris explained to a St. Louis reporter the complexities associated with the “fake service dog” phenomenon—such as the importance of avoiding knee-jerk lawmaking when something makes you angry. Their few-second clips in the 2 1/2 minute report coming out of this interview feature the times where each of them sound the most emotional. However, the reporter (KSDK’s Kay Quinn) seemed to understand that encouraging a ban on the online sale of service dog gear was not the solution, leaving options open-ended in the mid-May release of this 2016 story.

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2015

• Board member Chanda Hagen was featured in a local NAMI Newsletter spotlighting her relationship with her late service dog, Oliver. This July 2015 newsletter article was submitted by another member of the PSDP Peer Guidance Group.

• Dr. Veronica Morris was the guest on Doc Vincel’s internet radio show, “All About Service Dogs”, on May 28th, 2015. The two-hour episode loads and begins playing through http://www.blogtalkradio.com/servicedogacademy/2015/05/29/all-about-service-dogs-hosted-by-doc-vencil and we have archived it below in three parts:

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2014 and earlier

• Former board member Morgance Ellis and Dr. Veronica Morris were each featured on January 1st, 2014 in a surprisingly better-than-average Denver news story about how “Fake service dog owners cause problems for people with disabilities“.

• In the book Canine Angels, Marie-Claude Roy and Carole Villeneuve constructed a chapter each on dogs for mental health from both Chanda Hagen’s writing and Dr. Veronica Morris’s (Roy and Newtown Publications, April 2012).

• Dr. Veronica Morris pairs with another member of the PSDP community to discuss psychiatric service dogs in a half-hour interview. The interview was on a local program called “Mental Health Matters“, broadcast in Alameda County, California in July of 2011.

• Before PSDP media coverage, in July of 2011 Dr. Veronica Morris participated in an interview about psychiatric service dogs for an hour. The interview was on an interesting radio program called “Moebanshee’s Lair”; the link is to an edited version on YouTube.

• In January of 2010 Dr. Morris was featured in Smart canines provide good medicine by Elizabeth Sundstrom, via the Best Friends Animal Society. This is no longer available through their website.

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Please note that we generally avoid appearing in news segments or shows in which the reporter or host advocates action contrary to our mission (reporting without advocating is acceptable). In the past, this has included attempts to prevent handlers of legitimate, owner-trained service dogs from acquiring standard working gear. (See “There Are No Fake Vests” to find out what’s wrong with CCI’s old position.) Regardless, we are happy to provide expertise in consultation for reports involving service dogs and related topics; we have been consulted on background for newspapers like USA Today, networks like CNN International, and local news stations around the country. Our reporting guide is an excellent place to start.

* PSDP is not responsible for or necessarily in agreement with the content of external links, nor the views of those who create their content.