Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Paws and Stripes Program Holds Comfort Dog Class and Graduation

By  //  March 6, 2018

one of a kind program trains rescue dogs from BCSO Animal Care Center

This past Friday our Paws and Stripes Program graduated five Dogs and their Handlers as part of our Law Enforcement Child Comfort Dog Program that is done in partnership with Eastern Florida State College. (BCSO image)

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – This past Friday our Paws and Stripes Program graduated five Dogs and their Handlers as part of our Law Enforcement Child Comfort Dog Program that is done in partnership with Eastern Florida State College.

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Paws and Stripes Law Enforcement Child Comfort Dog Program is a unique and highly successful program which consists of a 40-hour Law Enforcement Comfort Dog course that is facilitated at our Paws and Stripes College in Port St. John.

The course is offered free of charge three to four times per year by our agency to Law Enforcement Agencies across the country.

Taught by our Paws and Stripes Staff, this one of a kind program trains rescue dogs from our Animal Care Center to become Child Comfort Dogs that aid in interviewing and comforting children who are victims of such crimes as Child Abuse, Sexual Abuse and other types of violent crime that can impact our most precious of citizens, our children.

During our most recent course, Law Enforcement Officers from all over the country received instruction in the science behind comfort dogs, how to use the dogs while interviewing child victims, dog handling skills, public exposure with the dogs, and the preparation of K9 teams for Therapy Dog Team evaluation.

Because of this specialized training that is offered exclusively by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Paws and Stripes College, these dogs and their handlers will have the ability to assist with interviews of child victims, help them start the healing process, and hopefully bring a smile back to the faces of those suffering pain and shock caused by a traumatic incident.

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Three of the dogs who graduated this week’s program came from our Animal Care Center and the other two dogs were brought to our training program by their handlers from Texas and New York.

After graduating from our Therapy Dog program, these dogs will go on to serve their communities in Texas, Georgia, New York and the state of Florida.

Please join me in congratulating the graduates and their dogs as well as thanking our team for putting on another amazing class, as I know that these Comfort Dogs and their handlers will go on to change the lives of children who will forever remember their contact with these very special dogs.

– Sheriff Wayne Ivey

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