Facility dog joins Stratford Police to provide emotional support

Dusty the dog has an important role at the Stratford Police Service – providing emotional support to those on the frontlines. CTV’s Karis Mapp has more.

Stratford Police has a new, four-legged friend reporting for duty.

Dusty is a three-year-old lab who is the service’s first-ever facility dog.

Different from a police K9, Dusty’s duties are all surrounding comfort and community engagement.

“A lot of times, people are a bit nervous when they’re coming to the courthouse … or going for an interview to talk to police about something that’s happened to them,” said Rachel Braden, a social worker with Stratford police, who is also one of Dusty’s handlers. “When you tell them that when they arrive, they’ll be greeted by a silly, cute, fuzzy yellow lab, they’re generally much more interested in attending.”

When she isn’t sitting in court to support a victim, Dusty can be found walking the streets of Stratford, meeting as many people as she can.

“I actually had her ride with me in the Santa Claus parade, and it was really interesting because as I was driving, I could hear so many people go ‘oh look at the cute dog’,” said Const. Darren Fischer, who is another one of Dusty’s handlers.

Dusty came from the National Service Dogs (NSD), where she started training shortly after birth.

“She’s had over two plus years of formal training,” explained Braden. “She can sit and stay focused for an interview, she can sit in court and stay focused.”

Staff at NSD’s Kitchener education centre where she was trained say they still fondly remember her while she was in the program.

“She was engaging. She was smart. She loved to work. She wasn’t fazed by anything and she loved to be with all kinds of different people,” recalled Rochelle Barber, NSD’s director of people and programs.

Dusty’s training not only helps community members across Stratford, St. Marys and Perth South, but also the officers she works alongside.

“Policing can be very emotionally heavy, and it’s nice to be able to have that release throughout the shift,” said Fischer.

That’s one of the reasons why Wounded Warriors Canada helped pay for Dusty to join Stratford Police.

The national mental health service provider sponsors roughly four dogs a year for trauma-exposed professionals at $30,000 each.

“These are not just dogs that come in to be petted, they’re specially trained to notice when people are struggling,” said Philip Ralph, the director of clinical services with Wounded Warriors Canada.

“Police right now, have the largest number of these dogs operational across the country.

Braden with Stratford Police has been working with facility dogs for roughly ten years now and says there’s no denying their benefit in a workplace. But, they’re not common in small towns.

“Ottawa Police Service has three facility dogs working for them, and Cornwall police has a facility dog,” she explained.

“A lot of facility dogs are working with victim services and those types of organizations as well.”