Contact: Beth Stone 508-584-8120
HALIFAX – Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz and Halifax Police Chief Joao A. Chaves are proud to introduce Roxy, a comfort dog to support students and residents.
The Town of Halifax recently acquired Roxy, a Labrador Retriever, from Professional Canine Services in Middleboro, where she is currently performing her comfort dog training. Roxy, 5 months-old, was acquired by Halifax Police with assistance from a $5,000 grant from the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office. Roxy’s handler is Halifax Patrolman Paul Campbell, and Roxy will be used to reduce stress and promote wellness for students in Halifax Public Schools, and also attend town events.
Halifax Police Chief Chaves said, “The Halifax Police Department wants to thank District Attorney Cruz and his entire staff for the generous gift that started the Halifax Police Department Comfort Dog Program. Roxy is extraordinarily popular with the entire community. The impact she and Officer Campbell have made on the community has been overwhelming, and they are just getting started. They will be a very busy pair as they meet all our residents. We are truly grateful for this partnership which will take our community engagement to new heights.”
DA Cruz developed the Plymouth County Comfort Dogs Program to provide additional services and resources to our communities. The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office provides a mini-grant to Plymouth County Police Departments to assist with costs associated with acquiring, training and caring for their comfort dog.
The pilot program has been designed to be implemented by either local School Resource Officers or the PD’s Community Outreach Officer, who in turn becomes the dog’s handler and sole caretaker. Both the handler and the comfort dog become members of the Plymouth County Comfort Dogs Program and are required to undergo all necessary trainings in the certification process to qualify as a comfort/therapy dog.
Our network of Plymouth County Comfort Dogs are present in our schools and are on hand to provide emotional support for students during the day, and available to the community at night and on weekends. Additionally, the handler and the comfort dog work with the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office staff at community events across Plymouth County and provide comfort services at our Children’s Advocacy Center and office.
There are currently 14 Comfort Dogs in the PCDAO pilot program.