![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_3129-225x300.jpg\")
Jo Santiago and her wounded partner.<\/p>\nMORGANTOWN, W.Va. \u2014 A federal agency has threatened to take a bald eagle from West Virginia that has been a therapy animal for military veterans for the last 11 years.<\/p>\n
Jo Santiago and her wounded partner.<\/p>\n
The American Eagle Foundation (AEF) has announced plans to phase out the sub-permittee program under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Eagle Exhibition Program.<\/p>\n
Handler Jo Santiago said 11 years ago she was a motivational speaker for the State Department of Workforce Development. As a wildlife biologist with experience when it comes to birds of prey, she learned it is very impactful to bring Freedom to meet with veterans as therapy. She said unless something changes, the AEF plans to remove Freedom from West Virginia at the end of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, I am a sub-permittee under the American Eagle Foundation, and the foundation wants him back,\u201d Santiago said Friday on WAJR\u2019s \u201cTalk of the Town.\u201d \u201cHe\u2019s been with me for 11 years serving veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Santiago describes Freedom as an \u201cunreleasable wounded warrior\u201d that she has cared for over the last 11 years. She frequently brings Freedom for events at the Louis A. Johnson Veteran\u2019s Administration Hospital, where many male and female veterans are left in awe of the experience. Over the last 11 years the relationship between Freedom, Jo, and the veterans has grown, and the symbol of our nation has become a familiar motivating fixture in their recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were made to work with veterans because the birds I work with are warrior birds, and they are wounded permanently, wounded warriors,\u201d Santiago said. \u201cSo, I said I would bring my wounded warrior to meet your wounded warrior.\u201d<\/p>\n
During events when veterans or people meet Freedom, it\u2019s always a powerful experience, according to Santiago. She said the visits uplift and give hope to veterans suffering from PTSD and addiction.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the presentation one of the veterans told me I didn\u2019t know what you just did for us,\u201d Santiago said. \u201cAnd I explained it\u2019s the other way around, and now you need to tell me what I can do for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The USFWS-approved permit she brought to the studio is good through 2029, but she said the AEF plans to take the bird by the end of the year. There is an online petition<\/a>, and she urges people to contact U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito<\/a> to call for action to keep Freedom in West Virginia like she has.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is not the case,\u201d Santiago said. \u201cI have my permit here that still has sub-permittees on it and it is good until March of 2029\u2014this is just a management decision.\u201d<\/p>\n The AEF is a collaborative agency with the USFWS, and she doesn\u2019t believe the agencies are united in this effort. She described the AEF action as an administrative decision and pointed out the importance of keeping Freedom. Santiago said studies have shown that changing the handler or environment can be damaging and even fatal for birds like Freedom.<\/p>\n \u201cUnder the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service holds all authority over these birds under permit,\u201d Santiago said. \u201cThe final say as to what happens to Freedom is up to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MORGANTOWN, W.Va. \u2014 A federal agency has threatened to take a bald eagle from West Virginia that has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-861535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}