The opioid crisis has greatly affected not only Massachusetts, but Plymouth County in particular. Our county has unfortunately witnessed thousands of overdoses and overdose deaths, many of whom were young adults. The ripple effect extends far into the community as family, friends, neighbors, and schools try to cope with the aftershock. We have found that comfort dogs assist with the recovery from these ripples by providing comfort services to those in their community. District Attorney Cruz has developed the Plymouth County Comfort Dog Program to provide a mini-grant to Plymouth County Police Departments to assist with the costs associated with acquiring, training and caring for their comfort dog.
The Plymouth County Comfort Dog Program’s mission and purpose is to provide comfort and emotional support for the well-being of Drug Endangered Children, students with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and others that require this service within the Plymouth County community.
The program has been designed to be implemented by the local School Resource Officer, who in turn becomes the dog’s handler and sole caretaker. Both the SRO and the comfort dog are required to undergo all necessary trainings in the certification process and qualify as a comfort/therapy dog.
The requirements of the Plymouth County Comfort Dog program are that the officer and the comfort dog are present in the schools, and are on hand to provide emotional support for the students during the day, and available to the community at night and weekends. The handler and the comfort dog must be available to work with the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office staff at community events across Plymouth County, and must provide comfort services at our Children’s Advocacy Center.
We currently have 7 Comfort Dogs in our program.
Meet Our Comfort Dogs:
Hingham Police Comfort Dog Opry
About Opry:
Opry is Hingham Police Department’s Comfort Dog, and is the first member of The Plymouth County Comfort Dog Program.
Opry is a mixed-breed rescue, donated to Hingham Police by Paws, Inc.
Opry resides with Hingham PD’s School Resource Officer Tom Ford and his family.
Follow Opry on Social Media:
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Hanson Police Comfort Dog Lucy
About Lucy:
Lucy is the Hanson Police Department’s Comfort Dog, and she is the second member of the Plymouth County Comfort Dog Program.
Lucy is a Golden Retriever and comes from Golden Opportunities for Independence (GOFI)
Lucy resides with Hanson PD’s School Resource Officer Derek Harrington and his family
Follow Lucy on Social Media:
Click here for more about Lucy:opens in a new window
- Abington Police Comfort Dog Harlow
- Brockton Comfort Dog Max
- Hanover Comfort Dog Lainey
- East Bridgewater Comfort Dog Morgan
- Hull Comfort Dog Peddocks
- Plymouth Comfort Dog Eamon-Coming Soon
- Scituate Comfort Dog- Coming Soon
- Whitman Comfort Dog- Coming Soon