It's January 2019 and inside the Kalamazoo County Courthouse, a proceeding is happening for one of the most high-profile and horrific crimes the community has ever seen. Behind the scenes, a gentle-faced golden retriever sits and waits calmly.
Three years have passed since six people died and two were gravely injured during a shooting spree on Feb. 20, 2016 that made national headlines. Now, as the court case of the shooter Jason Dalton – an Uber driver who went on a rampage that fateful night – is underway, this compassionate canine is ready to work.
His name is Sunny and he is a therapy dog – a professional comforter brought in to help survivors, families and friends of victims cope with reliving the details of the crime. In troubling times, Sunny’s calming presence is sometimes the only thing that can get a person through the next day, hour or even 30 seconds recounting a traumatic memory.
With loving ears to listen and a soft coat to stroke, Sunny automatically knows when it’s time to go into support mode. “He quickly bonds with people in a nondiscriminatory way, which is very powerful,” says Dr. Angela Moe, professor of sociology and Sunny’s owner and handler. “The more people get to know him, the more they seem to rely on him – so that bond builds.”
Moe and Sunny are a registered therapy dog team through the national organization Pet Partners. Together they visit schools, hospitals, domestic violence shelters and various agencies, providing the healing comfort of a therapy animal wherever their services are needed. They only go where they’re invited and are careful to let people approach Sunny instead of vice versa, in case anyone is afraid of or allergic to him.
Moe, who is a qualitative ethnographic researcher, also considers Sunny her latest research project. She is using her experiences in canine therapy as part of her teaching toolbox in the Department of Sociology. Her scholarship develops novel methods of serving people in the community, for example by introducing Sunny in environments such as courtrooms, that have not previously had access to therapy dogs.
Canines in court
In fact, the Dalton case marks the first time Moe and Sunny, or any dog, have been asked to provide support in the local court system. Moe says the use of therapy dogs in courtrooms has been met with some resistance due to concerns such as hygiene and whether or not the animal will be too persuasive to a jury.
“No dog has been in a courtroom formally as a therapy dog in Kalamazoo County,” Moe says. “However, in about a third of Michigan counties there’s an actual full-time therapy dog. People in Kalamazoo have inquired about it, and I think the courts are starting to realize that he (Sunny) or some other dog could be a real asset.”
Having worked in child abuse prevention and trauma recovery for a number of years, Moe got involved in supporting Dalton victims through her networks in the community. She connected with the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek Resiliency Project, a grant-funded organization that provides support and resources to the survivors, family members, first responders and others affected by the two mass violence events that occurred in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek in 2016 – the shooting, as well as the deaths and injuries to a group of cyclists who were struck by a motorist in June that year.
“Part of the organization’s work was to think outside the box and come up with ways to serve a large number of people,” Moe says. “Some of my connections there already know Sunny and have seen what he can do.” Recognizing the incredible healing power a therapy dog can provide, the victims’ advocates were eager to give Sunny a try.
Compassionate comforters
Sunny is a regular guest in Moe’s child abuse course at WMU. With permission to work off leash, he weaves in and out of rows of students, stopping for love from anyone who wants his company.
It’s no secret that canines bring comfort to survivors and others in crisis. Simply petting a dog can decrease levels of stress hormones, lower blood pressure, regulate breathing and produce oxytocin, a hormone associated with bonding and affection. In addition to the physiological benefits, dogs are highly social and generally respond to human emotion quite sensitively.
From a sociological standpoint, Moe says, this has tremendous value in helping those who have experienced trauma. “The Dalton case was hopefully our proving ground to show people that concerns with having him in the courtroom can be managed,” Moe says. “It costs nothing and none of the challenges are things we can’t overcome.”
Since the court proceedings have concluded, Sunny has been spending more time doing one of the things he does best – working with young children. One of his first jobs was to be on-hand at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Kalamazoo, which serves children who have been, or are suspected to have been, sexually or physically abused. In addition to the comfort Sunny provides, kids who work with him are often able to regain a sense of agency and control.
“Engaging with Sunny becomes a teaching moment,” Moe says. “If a child gets to choose how to interact with Sunny and knows their body is safe, soon they’re petting him and at ease. It’s letting everyone come at their own pace, which I consider trauma informed. The kids learn that Sunny will do what they ask. They get to have control over something, and that feels pretty good.”
Sunny’s days ahead
Three-year-old Sunny is just beginning to dip his paw into the therapy world, and Moe is eager to see what the future holds for them. In addition to working in the court system and with children, the pair has visited first responders who have experienced particularly difficult cases, are making inroads to volunteer with the Kalamazoo emergency management team and are considering becoming certified as a national canine crisis response team. Sunny is also a regular visitor to Moe’s WMU classrooms and will continue to be a critical asset to her teaching and research.
“I’ve been fortunate for my senior colleagues at Western who have given me the latitude to do this type of work,” Moe says. “It’s amazing to try this out and see what our future will hold. Sunny is just reaching his prime, so we’ll see what he can do.”
View this story and more in the 2019 issue of WMU's Arts and Sciences Magazine.