Brevard County animal group 'Canine Commandos' in need of donations

MELBOURNE, Fla. - A nonprofit group in Brevard County that pairs kids with dogs to help the dogs find "forever homes" is at risk of shutting down in a budget crunch.

Virginia Hamilton is a teacher at Quest Elementary School and founder of Canine Commandos.  The Canine Commandos are students from 29 schools who visit Brevard County animal shelters to socialize with the dogs and help to train them.  The program teaches kids about community service and compassion.  This school year alone, Canine Commandos have helped 180 dogs.

"When we work with these dogs, they learn how to behave around kids...families with kids especially...a lot of families that have kids, if they want a dog, they want a dog that will play, they don’t want a dog that will be too aggressive," said sixth-grader Natalia Roman.

To run the group, it usually costs about $10,000 a year.  Right now, the group is trying to raise donations.

"Right now, my sixth-graders are going down to the second-graders and teaching humane education to the little guys, so they’re going to be upcoming and hopefully join the ranks of the commandos as well," Hamilton said. 

The group's website is CanineCommandos.org.