Yesterday at a sexual assault trial in Calgary, a dog had an official duty in court, perhaps the first duty of its kind in Canada.
But First, A Word From Our Sponsor:
Top Comments recognizes the previous day's Top Mojo and strives to promote each day's outstanding comments through nominations made by Kossacks like you. Please send comments (before 9:30pm ET) by email to topcomments@gmail.com or by our KosMail message board. Just click on the Spinning Top™ to make a submission. Look for the Spinning Top™ to pop up in diaries posts around Daily Kos.
Make sure that you include the direct link to the comment (the URL), which is available by clicking on that comment's date/time. Please let us know your Daily Kos user name if you use email so we can credit you properly. If you send a writeup with the link, we can include that as well. The diarist reserves the right to edit all content.
|
Orange croissants are not intended to be dog treats. Enjoy one of our complimentary orange croissants below, but please refrain from feeding it to your pet.
Service dogs for the disabled. Companion dogs for the elderly and shut-ins. Drug-sniffing dogs for Customs officers. Attack dogs for police chasing suspects. Search dogs for rescue workers. Show dogs for entertainment. All of these, and more, are dogs with jobs.
Tonight we will take a closer look at a particular category: dogs helping people deal with stress and trauma.
Hawk
Above the fold, I mentioned a court case that is currently under way Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The case itself is a sad one: two siblings, a girl and a boy, are testifying against their own father in a sex-abuse trial. The girl aged 7 has already presented her testimony, and her brother aged 9 is expected to do likewise in the coming days.
Hawk, a 4-year-old black Labrador retriever, is an employee so to speak, of the Calgary Police Service. He has a police badge, and has been on the job for about a year. Hawk specializes in human therapy. His job description includes providing comfort to people who need a loving touch.
As a first in Alberta, and possibly all of Canada, Hawk was approved for court duty without objection, to give comfort to these two young witnesses. This role is often filled by specially trained human workers, to be by the side of the young and vulnerable. Courts acknowledge this role as essential to give comfort and support to these witnesses. While a new concept in Canada, the use of dogs for this role in court has been growing in the United States. Says CTV News:
“He is extremely low energy. He loves people,” said Hutt [Hawk's human handler]. “People can be crying and screaming or in some cases getting relatively aggressive with him when they’re petting him. It doesn’t faze him.”
To date, Hawk has worked with sexual-assault victims and those who have lost loved ones in traffic accidents and homicide cases, including the families of the five young people stabbed to death at a Calgary house party last April.
The children in this case met with Hawk on a number of occasions prior to the court dates, and have formed a bond. The Calgary Police Service is seeking to bring another trauma dog on board, as Hawk, in a sign of the times, already has a heavy workload.
Motu
At the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), Motu is one of the animals working the "puppy room". At the age of 6, this golden retriever is no longer a puppy, but provides a very useful service for students under stress at exam and other times. The Pet Access League Society (PALS) provides a number of such services to SAIT, the University of Calgary, and others. According to the Calgary Herald (the article tells the story of several working dogs, starting with Hawk):
“The students love it. You can see it on their faces. When you stand back and watch them, some are almost in tears depending on what they are experiencing,” said PALS executive director Diana Segboer. “They throw their arms around these dogs. For one moment, they are just kids again and they’re just enjoying themselves.”
Levi
This 14-year-old West Highland Terrier works for the Listening Tails program of the Chestermere Therapy Dogs Society. Levi, or one of several other dogs including his brother Bart, sits patiently by the side of youngsters who struggle with reading for various reasons, including disability or perhaps shyness. For some reason, the dogs help these kids relax and open up to reading, being non-judgmental.
Tallulah
Tallulah's owner is Martina Quinn, who counsels patients with breast and ovarian cancer. The 11-year-old Australian Labradoodle was recognized with a volunteer award in 2011, working by her owner's side. Patients of the Alberta Health Service's psychosocial oncology department often arrive at Quinn's office with a bundle of nervousness and anxiety.
“I’ve seen her get up off her mat when one of the clients has been crying, and she’ll come right over and just put her head down on her lap,” Quinn said. “I think it’s her way of saying, ‘It’s going to be OK.’”
These are just a few dogs with jobs, that happen to be in my local area. There are countless more, and they are everywhere. They give their boundless love not just to their owners and handlers, but to people from all walks of life in need.
A professional newspaper photographer gives her take on what is involved with photographing dogs with jobs.
TOP MOJO
December 2, 2014
(excluding Tip Jars and first comments)
Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary FAQing Top Mojo.
1) Cowards you say? by Angryallen — 161
2) So I finally watched "Blackboard Jungle." by Silencio — 122
3) You did not do anything to stop it: by 4CasandChlo — 112
4) Hear, Hear!! by Gooserock — 106
5) What a perfect summary by 420 forever — 98
6) The shooting and murder of Tamir Rice by high uintas — 95
7) Plus, I really like the word "sprogget" by OregonWetDog — 94
8) The character assassination... by qphilo — 94
9) and deleting and republishing your diaries by terrypinder — 87
10) Shaun your diaries continue to illuminate by ebbet — 86
11) I would love to know what the cops by JoanMar — 85
12) The analogy with the clergy and the coverup of by flitedocnm — 84
13) I'm tired of hearing how dangerous it is by rustypatina — 81
14) If it doesn't hit the rec list by TFinSF — 80
15) Today I had a Down Syndrom little boy tantrum by Tool — 76
16) Yeah, I know LOTS of non-racists by ExpatGirl — 76
17) As a white woman, by Youffraita — 74
18) I can answer your question at least partially. by Tool — 74
19) What are you, Senator? A pinko? If only... by Meteor Blades — 71
20) I found out my computer's address is 192.168.0.1 by sneakers563 — 70
21) This is one of those stories that I have not by BoiseBlue — 70
22) Cops are cowards. As bullies always are. by expatjourno — 68
23) NO, its not what Grand Jurors do, this was not by merrywidow — 67
24) Does the profession attract that personality type by benamery21 — 66
25) I want to hug these parents. by slksfca — 65
26) ... by Trix — 65
27) THE best reason to smile today! :-D by The Marti — 65
28) They're scared every day that they won't come home by UntimelyRippd — 65
29) On that note, I'm going to relate the by Satya1 — 63
30) I've Already Received Numerous Requests to Do So by TooFolkGR — 62
31) vise grip, not vice by Habitat Vic — 62
TOP PHOTOS
December 2, 2014
Enjoy jotter's wonderful PictureQuilt™ below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment that features that photo. Have fun, Kossacks!
|
|