By CHRIS FROST
Eagle Times News Editor
NEWPORT, NH — Thanks to a $5,000 donation from Kyle and Rachel Dilger, and support from across the community, a four-legged officer will soon be joining the Newport Police Department.
The new comfort dog, funded solely through donations, is expected to join the department in March.
“These are dogs bred and trained to be social and comforting working animals for children, adult victims and witnesses of crimes,” said Police Chief Alex Lee who is excited about the comfort dog program and the new ways the department will be able to respond to emergencies.
Research has shown that traumatic experiences affect the brain and central nervous system, Lee said.
“It makes it very difficult sometimes [for witnesses and victims] to recount what happened to them or what they witnessed accurately,” he said. “We found that having an emotional support animal, a comfort dog, available to be with victims and witnesses of crimes, they are more likely to work with the police and have a better recollection of the incident in question.”
He said the comfort dog will be assigned to one or more department officers, and they will respond to critical incidents like major structure fires and to be available for children who are the victims of abuse or neglect.
“When children are being interviewed over at the Child Advocacy Center, we’ll bring a comfort dog over there to be with the child during the interview,” Lee said. “The comfort dog will be at the station when we are interviewing adult victims and witnesses at the station, and we’ll use the comfort dog extensively at the schools to build and foster better relationships with kids when they are young and make them see the police are here to help and are friendly.”
He said the comfort dog will greatly benefit the town.
“This is not just a piece of equipment” he said.
The department reached its fundraising goal in the first 10 days, he said, and the Newport had a tremendous community response.
“The people of this community have spoken about how much they want and support this program,” he said.
The Dilgers’ donation was unanimously approved by the town’s Board of Selectmen, on Monday, Dec. 18.
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