CUMMING, Ga. — Members of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office are welcoming a new 4-legged deputy named Boo Berry. Unlike other canines used by the sheriff’s office, Boo Berry will be used to provide comfort to and, in some cases, extract more information from victims of sexual abuse.
“Oftentimes, the victim children are reluctant or hesitant to make a disclosure,” detective Jeffrey Roe, Boo Berry’s handler, said. “Just petting the dog releases chemicals in the human brain and just relaxes the child to where they feel a little bit more comfortable in their environment to make that disclosure.”
He says Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman met Boo Berry down in Florida where they’ve been rescuing dogs since 2015, then using them in a program called Paws and Stripes.
“So their ultimately saving and canines themselves,” Roe said. “They utilize the female inmates to conduct the obedience training and then they have a one-week course that they mirror the canine to the actual handler themselves. Sheriff Freeman was so impressed with the program down in Florida, he's going to start one here at Forsyth County Sheriff's Office. It's called Paws for a Cause, and it will be the first program of its type here in the state of Georgia. We're very proud of that.”
Veterinarians believe Boo Berry is a Beagle-Spaniel mix and is about 4 years old.
“She's doing what she is naturally trained to do, that's basically sit up in somebody's lap and just let them pet her. For the dog it's a great gig,” Roe said. It's just a win-win-win all the way around. You're getting the dogs out of the shelter, you’re giving inmates a marketable skill that they'll be able to take with them when they get out, and of course, law enforcement is deriving the benefit as well through the use of the canine.”
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