For the first time ever, Arizona State University’s Police Department is welcoming an emotional support dog to its force.
Meet Dutch, the 3-month-old black Labrador puppy planning to join the department’s special victim’s unit.
An ASU spokesperson said Dutch will eventually be tasked with comforting crime victims. In the meantime, he will be patrolling campus to comfort frazzled students during exam weeks.
“We are extremely excited to provide this service to our community members,” ASU Police Chief Michael Thompson said in a press statement.
“Going through a traumatic experience or having anxiety about a situation can be difficult to deal with and hard to talk about. We hope that Dutch will be able to put people’s minds at ease and help them manage the fears and emotions they may be experiencing,” he added.
Dutch was named in honor of James “Dutch” Lister, an ASU police officer who tragically died of a heart attack while on duty in 2010.
“I worked with Officer Lister before his passing and he was always the consummate professional and treated everyone with dignity and respect,” Thompson shared. “Officer Lister’s widow is very excited about Dutch and said Officer Lister would have been honored to know that this puppy with his namesake will be helping people.”
One thing’s for sure, there is a lot of excitement surrounding this addition to the ASU family!
