Newtown Community Honors Dog Therapy Teams

On June 22, 2014 over 100 therapy teams from our community as well as many groups from out of state gathered at Fairfield Hills in Newtown, CT to be honored. Together these collective groups of dogs were honored by the children, parents, state senators, principles and town officials for offering endless hours of support to the Newtown community. They have and continue to gather at our schools, churches, community centers, fire stations and more each day.

Volunteers like Brad Cole, who work on a regular basis at Yale-New Haven Hospital, arrived in Newtown with his Akita, Spartacus on the afternoon of December 14 and the dog immediately started to interact with the kids. Cole said that because of the success of this program in Newtown, legislation passed a form into a state-sanctioned law for volunteer therapy dog response teams in Connecticut. Clearly, people can see the importance of having dogs in the community and how they can offer support to children and adults in need during times of crisis.

“We have worked very hard to make other members of the legislature understand how important the work is that you’ve done” said Sen. Dante Barolomeo at the event.

Clearly, the impact of having the various therapy dogs of different sizes, shapes and colors each with an endearing personality has offered closure in Newtown and specifically to the children of our community. Newtown Veterinary Specialist felt it was important to support this event that honored all the hard working teams, owners and dogs to let the children simply honor them with heartfelt notes, drawings and gentle scrubs behind those furry ears! It was a day to celebrate and enjoy for all those who attended.