>> My name is Maya Daniel, and my title is a CBPO,
Customs and Border Protection Officer.
As an officer, we search and target international freight
that's coming into the U.S.,
searching for illegal contraband on a nightly basis,
anything that could possibly be smuggled into the United States.
My stepfather was in the military, and he was a veteran,
and we lost him to lung cancer.
In his memory, he made me proud of what we did,
and then I'm, of course, proud of other veterans for serving the country.
And I thought, what a way to reward them,
even if it was a small part of their day,
to come and try and cheer them up a little bit.
>> Oh my goodness, oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness!
>> Maya and her pet are an integral part of our volunteer program.
I have found in my nine years of working in voluntary service,
there are about three things that really delight our veterans when we come in;
music, food and pets.
Anytime you bring pets into a program
are where there are veterans, it tends to lighten the mood.
They tend to be more expressive, they're more engaging.
It just really gets them to open up more.
>> When I became a team member with [INAUDIBLE], we head to Cincinnati,
we got a choice of which hospitals to visit.
We come to the VA down in Cincinnati once a month.
The veterans are sometimes in the hospital for a while,
and they miss their pets.
To me, it's a great feeling to bring Otey down to visit,
and just have them smile. They may not know my name,
but they get to love on the dog,
and smile and be happy.
It might just make them happy for an hour.
>> It calms people down. I know that with my own pets at home.
I would have a bad day, I didn't have to say anything to anybody.
They just come around and they were just there for me.
>> I think they're visiting with the veterans here
is a tremendous asset for them,
and they get relief in one way or another.
>> To me, the veterans have protected our country as well,
they put their lives on the line.
I think it's nice that we get to come down here
and bring our pets and try to cheer them up,
even if it's just a little part of their day.