Later this month, the U.S. Postal Service will issue a set of four stamps to honor working dogs.
The stamps include a guide dog assisting a woman who is blind, a tracking dog on the trail of a scent, a therapy dog visiting an elderly woman in her home, and a search and rescue dog standing in a field.
USPS notes that currently, some 10,000 guide dogs in the U.S. and Canada serve as an extra set of eyes for people who are blind.
Therapy dogs bring comfort and joy to the elderly and the ill. Dogs that work with police and military personnel are trained to detect drugs, guns, and explosives. Search and rescue dogs speed up search efforts, increasing the odds of survival for disaster victims. Dogs are even used in courtrooms to help calm children who must testify during a trial.
Artist John M. Thompson created original paintings for the stamps, which were designed by art director Howard E. Paine. The Dogs At Work stamps are being issued at the two-ounce rate.
The stamps will be released Jan. 20 in Merrifield, VA.
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