The Dog Show #342 – September 16, 2015
Courthouse Dogs founder Ellen O’Neill-Stephens joins Julie today to talk about the amazing work they do with “facility dogs” in courthouses across the country and spreading to other countries! Specially selected and trained dogs, provided by assistance dog organizations provide emotional support to victims of crimes while they testify and also during forensic interviews. Imagine you are a child who has been sexually assaulted and a strange detective is asking you what happened. You may not want to talk with a strange adult after experiencing trauma, but you may be willing to share with a calm, soft dog what happened to you or what you saw. www.courthousedogs.org
“The mission of Courthouse Dogs Foundation is to promote justice with compassion through the use of professionally trained facility dogs to provide emotional support to everyone in the justice system.”
“We envision a world where there is a dog in every courthouse providing emotional support to everyone in need during stressful legal proceedings.”
~Courthouse Dogs
Vashon Sheepdog Trials www.vashonsheepdogclassic.com
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download