Mary Cortani’s story is one of resilience, passion, and an unwavering commitment to making a difference.

From her time as one of the first female military police canine handlers in the Women’s Army Corps to founding Operation Freedom Paws, she has spent her entire life training dogs.

Yet it wasn’t until a deeply personal experience with a suicidal veteran that she realized her true calling: helping others, particularly veterans and first responders, heal through their bond with a service dog.

A Soldier’s Journey

Mary Cortani, founder of Operation Freedom Paws, with her dog, CJ.

Credit:

IMAGE: Operation Freedom Paws

Cortani served in the military during the Vietnam era, though she was not a combat veteran. Her role as a military police K-9 handler in the Army laid the foundation for a lifetime spent working with dogs.

Cortani has extensive experience with animals, including training dogs for detection and search and rescue. However, she says transitioning back to civilian life after leaving the military was challenging for her.

She says an executive role in Silicon Valley helped her re-establish herself professionally, but it was her emotional experience with a Marine veteran in crisis that led to the birth of Operation Freedom Paws in 2010.

The Marine, who had been struggling with post-traumatic stress, had been waiting on a service dog from a traditional service dog program. Desperate and feeling hopeless, he called Cortani—who offered him her help for free. What began as a simple act of kindness, she says, quickly transformed into an entire nonprofit organization.

Operation Freedom Paws is Launched

In 2011, with support from friends and family, Cortani founded Operation Freedom Paws as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Her mission was clear: provide service dogs to veterans, first responders, and others facing trauma, all free of charge.

The organization took a unique approach, using a community model rather than a national one. The national model breeds dogs for a specific purpose, then a trainer evaluates them. Dogs selected as therapy dogs, go into a puppy home for 12 to 18 months. Then they return to a trainer for a year before they are matched with a person.

In contrast, Operation Freedom Paws’ community model rescues dogs from shelters and trains them alongside their human counterparts. This strategy helps save dogs in need and allows the humans and dogs to bond as they trained together, Cortani says.

“We evaluate the dogs at the shelter and if they have the temperament, personality, skills and desire to work, then we start training them together,” she says. “We like to say we’re training the human at the end of the leash because training the dog is the easy part.”

Cortani says a good therapy dog is outward focused. “They can be friendly with other animals, and with people, because they are there to provide comfort to others,” she explains.

Therapy dog handlers learn to recognize the dog’s body language. For an officer using the dog in a community policing role, Cortani says the officer needs to recognize when the dog is saying “I need to go over here because this human needs me” or “I need a break because there is too much emotion. We teach them about these interactions and how to be a true partner with their dogs.”

Expanding the Mission

What started with veterans soon grew to include law enforcement officers and other first responders, according to Cortani.

She explains trauma affects all types of individuals—whether through combat, domestic violence, or the stress of emergency response—so it made sense to open the program to first responders, including police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and dispatchers. Many of them, she says, have also experienced severe trauma in their careers and struggled with mental health issues, including PTSD, depression, and anxiety.

Operation Freedom Paws' program began supplying trained dogs to law enforcers to boost morale and lower suicide risk. The program has since expanded to include therapy dogs in police departments across the Bay Area, including in Gilroy, Campbell, and San Jose.

In addition, the organization’s therapy dogs now serve in schools, hospitals, and even fire departments, proving that the need for mental health support reaches far beyond military service.

“Trauma is trauma,” Cortani reflects, “whether it’s from the battlefield, the firehouse, or the dispatch center.”

Dogs intuitively understand when someone needs help, according to Mary Cortani, founder of Operation Freedom Paws.

Credit:

IMAGE: Operation Freedom Paws

A Holistic Approach to Healing

One of the things that sets Operation Freedom Paws apart is its holistic approach to recovery, Cortani adds.

“While our dogs play a central role, our organization also supports the entire family,” she says.

Cortani includes veterans, first responders, and their loved ones in every step of the process—from training sessions to group activities and therapy services. She stresses the program is not just about the dogs; it’s about helping people advocate for their mental health and take control of their recovery.

“Most service dog programs don’t involve the family, but we do,” she explains. “We know that the healing process affects everyone in the household, so we work with the family to ensure everyone feels supported.”

The organization also has therapists working with everyone involved at each training session. “Our therapists work with everyone during class and outside of class,” she explains. “Often the people we help, especially those on the law enforcement side, are afraid to reach out for help so we make sure we include that in the training.”

The training process is long—often taking as long as two sessions a week for 48 weeks. “But we are committed to staying with each client for as long as it takes. We had one veteran we worked with for five years,” she says. “The bond that forms between a person and their service dog is often life-changing, and we make sure to provide continued support long after graduation day.”

A Vision for the Future

Operation Freedom Paws is changing lives, one dog at a time. By offering free training, emotional support, and a sense of purpose, the organization has been instrumental in preventing suicides, aiding in recovery, and giving people the strength to carry on. Cortani’s vision is clear: to continue providing hope for those who need it most—veterans, first responders, and their families.

“As long as there are people who need it, Operation Freedom Paws will be there, offering not just service dogs, but a second chance at life,” she concludes.

Currently, Operation Freedom Paws’ service and therapy dogs are only available in California, but Cortani says she hopes to expand those boundaries. “We need more funding, volunteers, and the capacity to train handlers and dogs in multiple locations,” she says.

For now, Cortani invites California's first responders and law enforcement agencies to connect and explore how the organization can assist. Visit https://operationfreedompaws.org/ or call 408-683-9010 to learn more about the program.