For decades, the fate of military working dogs when they retired was essentially a death sentence.

Recently at the Vietnam Era Educational Center, in Holmdel, Debbie Kandoll, founder of Military Working Dog Adoptions, discussed how this all changed nine years ago when federal laws allowed for easier public adoption of these canine heroes.

Kandoll’s dedication to these four-legged veterans began two years ago when she saved a German Shepherd named Benny, who was only a week from being euthanized.

“In October of 2007, Benny had reached the end of his useful military service because of degenerative joint disease”, Kandoll said. After almost 50 phone calls, nearly 30 of them wrong numbers, Benny was heading to his new home with Kandoll.

Kendoll said she needed to apply everything she learned about the military from her husband, a veteran, on her route to adopting Benny.

“I wondered how many more Benny’s could be falling threw the racks and I had to do something about it,” Kandoll said. Her belief that future adoptions should be

Debbie and Mike Kandoll, left, discuss how they adopted Benny, center, with Fern Zappala, Bethesda, Md. Debbie was the guest speaker at the event at the Vietnam Era Educational Center. John Burnam, author of " Dog Tags of Courage" escorted Zappala to her fi rst war dog memorial ceremony.

It will soon be that time of year that most folks dread, or at least cringe at: income tax season.

If you are one of the taxpayers who will be getting a refund on your 2009 New Jersey state income tax, you have an opportunity to assist homeless veterans of the state.

It is the second year that the Veterans Haven Support Fund is offered as an option for taxpayers to donate all or part of their state income tax refunds. In 2009 nearly $10,000 was donated to the program.