SAN DIEGO — The comfort of a canine can provide healing in many ways but for children who are facing the scariest situations, dogs can help ease the pain and help bring justice against their abuser. Rady Children's Hospital provides support for abused and neglected children at the Chadwick Center for Children and Families and they want to add new treatment by having their own permanent resident canine on its campuses to help treat vulnerable youth.
CBS 8 is Working FUR Kids and partnering with Rady Children’s to launch its own Resident Canine Therapy program.
All day Monday, May 20, all donations will be matched up to $10,000 by The Black Pearl’s Monster Truck Sponsor, StrutCares.
As we visit the Chadwick Center, yellow Labrador Lyle Hope walks into the bright colored waiting room with his handler. As you look into his big brown eyes, it feels like all the worries fade away.
“I could see it in their face, their anxieties kind of melt away when they see Lyle,” said Marisol Olguin, Chadwick Center forensic interviewer.
Lyle is the San Diego Police Department’s first-ever child advocate companion canine.
Lyle joined the force last year to help children testify in court and he tries to be there for the 2,000 kids who go to Rady Children’s Chadwick Center each year. These are children who have to talk about unthinkable abuse or violence in a forensic interview or undergo an uncomfortable medical examination.
“We are asking an awful lot of children to come and talk about some of the most traumatic experiences of their lives to someone that they’ve just met. So we’re asking them to do that, we’re asking them to trust us,” said Olguin.
She has been a forensic interviewer for 20 years and says having a companion like Lyle helps break down those barriers.
“We’re helping children have a voice, sometimes for the very first time,” said Olguin.
But Lyle is in high demand, so he can’t always be there at the Chadwick Center that supports 20-30 children every day in their resilience and recovery.
Having a full-time canine can also help relieve some of the heaviness that affects staff including therapists, clinicians, physicians, and advocates.
“After some difficult sessions I really need to go outside, get some air, go for a walk,” said Olguin.
CBS 8 is partnering with Rady Children’s Hospital to raise money to have its own resident canine therapy program.
Their goal is to start with three dogs with one on site, full-time at the Chadwick Center but the cost to start and sustain the program is expensive.
“With your help, we would be able to provide immense happiness and support and automatic safety to children who need it. Because they’re here and they’re talking about some of the worst days of their lives, and this would just mean the world to us,” said Olguin.
A resident canine can provide immediate safety, trust and healing that allows children to open up about horrific details which can be used in a criminal investigation so young survivors can get the justice they deserve.
“As children actually come to the topic of conversation, it can be really hard, and they could shut down. But Lyle is there, and I can see them, they’ll turn to him, they’ll pet him and their anxiety is just going down, down, down,” said Olguin.
A canine can help give kids their control back after they’ve escaped from the abuse.
“They typically have the chance to be able to walk with a facility dog from either the waiting room or from our family room, and they’re taking the facility dog with them, they’re, directing where they want him to go,” said Olguin.
And these dogs are directing children down a path of support where they can feel loved once again.
“It’ll just be amazing to have our own facility dog,” said Olguin. “We can all benefit from a facility dog.”
CBS 8 and Rady Children’s Hospital will be hosting a give-a-thon all day on June 5.
Working FUR Kids is an effort to help raise funds in collaboration with the public, to start a Resident Canine Therapy program at Rady Children’s here in San Diego. Please consider making a monetary donation to kickstart this essential program that will help ease the pain and suffering of children who are patients at Rady Children’s Hospital.
WATCH: Black Pearl Monster Truck helps raise money for resident canine therapy program at Rady Children’s