Kynos Stiftung Hunde helfen Menschen

Founded in 1998, Kynos Stiftung Hunde helfen Menschen is a grant-making foundation based in Nerdlen/Daun, Germany working on disability, health, mental health +1 more.

The Kynos Stiftung Hunde helfen Menschen is a public foundation under German civil law, founded in 1998 by publisher couple Dr. Dieter and Helga Fleig, and recognised by the tax office as charitable and benevolent. It is one of the pioneers of the assistance dog movement in Germany. The foundation finances the training of assistance dogs for people with disabilities, chronic illnesses and psychosocial impairments, including warning and alert dogs, and has funded around 170 to 172 human-dog teams. Since a statute amendment in late 2024 it also funds scientific research on dog-assisted intervention and assistance dogs, through a research grant with a first prize of 20,000 euros and four further prizes of 5,000 euros in 2026, and through a research advisory board. Funded studies include work on stress in war-injured patients and therapy dogs at a military hospital in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. The foundation also holds a dog-related book and art collection, lent to the European Dog Museum in Austria, and it is financed by donations, legacies and a share of sales from the affiliated Kynos Verlag. It holds fundraising events, including charity evenings in Köln and Hürth. The foundation is based in Germany and operates in German-speaking countries.