The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that an emotional support dog will be joining the staff “for the first time in the history” of the agency.
According to a press release, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO) began employing the “emotional support services of Barrett,” an F1B Golden Doodle, in late December. Barrett will start working “five half-days per week” beginning in 12 months after he completes a “rigorous training schedule” that will provide him with the “skills needed to support” HCAO “employees, witnesses, and victims.”
The HCAO, which represents the most populous county in the state, said the decision to recruit an emotional support dog was “based on scientific research showing the benefits of having a dog working with individuals in a courthouse, courtroom and/or legal office.”
Barrett is currently being trained by dog trainer Kathryn Neumann from Augusta Dog Training, the news release said.
“Having an emotional support animal like Barrett in our office will provide much needed stress and anxiety-relief to our staff members, as well as the witnesses and victims we work with during cases,” Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said in a statement. “Research suggests that having emotional support animals working in courthouses and other legal offices provides comfort and creates a less threatening environment for victims and witnesses. Barrett is a welcome and necessary edition to our office.”
Freeman showed off the newest member of his team while speaking with reporters Tuesday afternoon and said that the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office also uses an emotional support dog.
Anytime you hold a fluffy dog at work, it's a good day!@HennepinAtty Mike Freeman had a good day today, introducing Hennepin County’s first emotional support dog, Barrett, will help adults and kids who are victims or witnesses to crime. In tomorrow's @StarTribune pic.twitter.com/afys2DDG1V
— Glen Stubbe (@gspphoto) December 31, 2019
“We find that they’re particularly useful in juvenile cases when kids don’t want to be witnesses, they don’t want to be there,” Freeman added. “There’s a good deal of literature that’s been done about how supportive dogs are and how they reduce stress.”
Neumann said the first “courthouse facility dog” was used in 2003 in Arkansas.
“So this is not uncommon,” she said. “The most important thing for Barrett is that he is going to make people feel at ease when he is here whether it’s someone who’s testifying or if it’s the staff here because this can be a very stressful location for some people.”
Freeman’s office said that Barrett is 75 percent Standard Poodle and 25 percent Golden Retriever. He is living with an employee of the HCAO while he completes his training.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mike Freeman” by Mike Freeman. Background Photo “Hennepin County Courthouse” by City of Minneapolis Archives. CC BY 2.0.
