Lily is a five-year-old Corgi-Beagle mix who is assigned to help victims of sensitive or violent crimes at Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) in Florida.
Lily didn’t have a wonderful start. She was rescued at a kill shelter. She was later trained to become a therapy dog at Brevard County Sheriff’s Office under Paws and Stripes College. Paws and Stripes College was an eight-week program where prison inmates train rescue dogs like Lily to become PTSD dogs, child-victim advocate dogs, or therapy dogs.
After the basic obedience training, Lily was chosen to take advanced training to become a therapy dog. When she graduated from the Law Enforcement Investigative Therapy Dog Course and earned her therapy dog certification, Lily was turned over at MCSO in 2017 to help in comforting the victims of sensitive and violent crimes.
Lily is one busy dog! She has been working so hard to assist the victims of the crimes handled by the DCF’s (Department of Children and Families) Investigative Liaison. Lily primarily focuses on providing emotional comfort not only to the cases handled by DCF but also to the families of the missing persons and victims of sex crimes, child exploitation internet crimes, and child abductions.
Sheriff Billy Woods has nothing but good words towards Lily. Lily has helped a lot in dealing with sensitive investigations. She helps children to be more comfortable in telling their horrific experiences. Moreover, Lily keeps a good and friendly environment for both the police and visitors. Her presence indeed provides joy and comfort to everyone.
Until now, Lily is working at MCSO, continuing to provide comfort to all those who are going through a very tough situation in their lives. Indeed, Lily serves as a guiding light to those who are confused, scared, and depressed.
Good job, Lily! Keep up the good work!
Photos courtesy of Marion County Sheriff’s Office via Facebook
