Dogs bring hugs, tail-wags and some controversy to America’s courthouses
In California’s Ventura County, there’s a well-dressed regular at the local courthouse who always lays down on the job. Comet, a 3-year-old black lab, wears a vest and bow tie to court and settles into the witness box before a trial starts. Jurors, who could be biased by the dog’s presence, are none the wiser.
Unless Comet, snuggled at the testifying witness’s feet, nods off. “The dog snores and it can get really stressful for us," says Jennifer Barbettini, who works with crime victims at the Ventura County district attorney’s office. The witness typically nudges Comet awake before anyone notices.
The pack is growing. More than 320 courthouse dogs are working across the U.S., more than triple that of a decade ago, according to Ellen O’Neill-Stephens, founder of the nonprofit Courthouse Dogs Foundation. Courthouse dogs such as Comet, typically working with prosecutors or victim advocates, often are used to comfort witnesses testifying in court or people, particularly alleged crime victims, during law-enforcement interviews.
“You get someone who doesn’t want to talk, is street hardened and wants no part of being in the building," says Brian Bendish, a prosecutor in Westchester County, N.Y., as Lewis, the 6-year-old Labrador retriever he lives and works with, looks on with puppy-dog eyes. “Then Lewis comes in and you can feel the change in their cooperation." But some defense attorneys are arguing that courtrooms have gone to the dogs. “A dog signals to a jury that an alleged victim is sympathetic, needy or vulnerable," says lawyer Jan Trasen, of Washington Appellate Project, a public-defender organization.
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