In times of intense tragedy, we all need some form of love and comfort. Especially if the tragedy was as heart-wrenching and as earth-shattering as the Newtown shooting.
Sensing that the devastated community could do with comfort, Lutheran Church Charities in America sent ten golden retriever ‘comfort animals’ from Chicago to the small suburban town, which is 800 miles away.
The purpose of these animals is simple – they are to help calm and comfort survivors of the tragedy. They are to offer the children a little paw to hold onto during a time of immense emotional distress.
“Dogs are non-judgemental. They are loving. They are accepting of anyone,” said Tim Hetzner, the man who runs the comfort animal programme.
“It creates the atmosphere for people to share,” he added.
The little team of dogs arrived in Newtown last night and stopped by the Christ the King Lutheran Church, where children were able to spend time talking to, petting and cuddling the loveable dogs.
It is hoped that the dogs will offer the children of Newtown some level of comfort
The comfort animal programme was original started five years ago, after a similar mass shooting occurred at Northern Illinois University. Since then, the programme has grown and there are now 60 comfort dogs operating in five states.
“You could tell which ones… were really struggling with their grief because they were quiet,” said Mr Hetzner.
“They would pet the dog, and they would just be quiet,” he added.
Newtown’s local animal shelter, Kitten Associates Inc., has also opened its doors to grieving children and their families. The idea is to give both children and adults alike a safe space where they can just spend some quality time with the animals.
“There are a lot of people that are hurting,” said Mr Hetzner, speaking about the shooting.
“It’s good for the children to have something that is not the shooting,” he added.
Today, the dogs will attend the Sandy Hook elementary school where the shooting took place, in order to be with students for after-school activities.
