The Buffalo Sabres have announced Mac as their official team dog for the 2025-26 season. Mac, a 52-pound Newfoundland, is currently undergoing training to become a service dog for a local veteran through the WNYHeroes “Pawsitive for Heroes” program. This initiative pairs dogs with veterans and involves inmates, including incarcerated veterans, in the training process at a local correctional facility.
Mac will be the fifth Sabres team dog to graduate from this program. The organization named him after Sgt. Heath A. McMillin, a Canandaigua native who served in the Army National Guard’s 105th Military Police Company based in Buffalo and was killed during an attack south of Baghdad in July 2003.
Last year’s team dog, Audie, was paired with Marine Corps veteran Chad DuFrane from Lancaster. DuFrane spoke about the impact Audie has had on his daily life: “It’s really life changing,” he said. “There’s a feeling you get when you go to the store with people that you were in the military with. Your panic and anxiety and stuff is not really there because you know someone’s got your back. And when she’s with me, it’s like that same feeling, because I have an extra set of eyes and ears that is looking out for me.”
The Pawsitive for Heroes program aims to provide both support for veterans and skills development opportunities for inmates involved in training service dogs.
For more information about WNYHeroes and its programs supporting veterans through service animals, visit their website.
