| Meet Amos Photo Courtesy of Detroit News |
For children, especially victims of sexual assault who are required to testify as prosecution witnesses, the experience can be terrifying. But Amos, a chocolate Labrador with a friendly face and thick, lovable middle to squeeze, has the job of putting these youngsters at ease by just being himself. Called into cases by child advocates, law enforcement or even judges, Amos is trained to sit near children for long periods of time and act as a guardian and comforter of sorts while they either testify in court or await their turn to take the stand.
Cojanu, who spent a decade as a supervisor of the Victim Services Unit for the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office until 2008, launched the Canine Advocacy Program earlier this year. He found Amos, who was in training at Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester, but became “career changed” after trainers discovered he pulled too much on the leash. Amos was deemed perfect for Cojanu’s program, which needed a friendly dog with a calm disposition for children and courtroom decorum.
Oakland Circuit Judge Joan Young allowed Amos into her courtroom recently to accompany two juvenile victims who were required to testify in a bench trial for a defendant charged with criminal sexual conduct.
The children, who testified separately, each took the stand for more than two hours while Amos lay at their feet. “It was as though he wasn’t there,” Young said of Amos and his presence in the courtroom. “He sat up at one point and looked around but there was no barking. He just sat there.” Young, the first judge in Michigan to allow Amos into a courtroom during a criminal proceeding, said she had no concerns about bringing a dog into a criminal trial. “It’s just a new way to assuage the concerns and nervousness of a child who has to testify. It’s a stressful environment for a child,” she said.
From The Detroit News:
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