20220612-CAPITALSTYLEMAGAZINE-T-0 - Flipbook - Page 66
“A dog lends children
emotional support. What
we generally see [with
animals at their side] is
a sort of normalcy.”
— Glenn L. Klavans, county
administrative judge who oversees
the program
court officials rotated Lucy Lu and several
other dogs through the family room to
comfort those in need.
“You’d see people get down on the floor
and pet Lucy, who’d roll over on her belly,”
her owner said. “Even attorneys enjoyed a
five-minute break with the dog; it let them
escape for a bit.”
She believes dogs have a sense of when
they are needed, said Mathews, 58, of
Davidsonville:
“Lucy will lean into the legs of a person
— I call it ‘the doodle lean’ — as if to say,
‘I’m getting as close to you as you need me
to.’ ”
Jovone Brady can attest to that. When a
leg injury forced Brady, an Anne Arundel
County police officer, to retire, the Arnold
resident fell into a funk that only her dog
could address. Brody, 53, said that training Riley, a goldendoodle, for the court
program lifted her spirits “and gave me a
purpose again.”
Accepted into the fold, Brody and Riley
were visiting the courthouse in 2019 when
approached by a judge.
“He said a girl, about 14, was set to testify in a custody case right then, and that
she ‘could really benefit’ from having a dog
beside her,” said Brody. Rarely are such decisions made on the fly, but Brody agreed.
She and Riley strode into the courtroom
and approached the girl, who was fidgeting
in the witness box.
“The judge asked, ‘Is this [dog] something you would want?’ and the girl said,
‘Absolutely.’ So Riley lay down beside her
on the stand for 30 minutes,” Brody said.
“Once she started petting the dog, you
could see the stress melt away. Riley has
such passionate eyes.”
The animals have helped settle young
boys as well. When a 13-year-old, obviously
rattled, reported to a judge on his foster
care treatment, a 2-year-old labradoodle
named Ziggy sat under the table, licking
the child’s hand.
“It was a wonderful distraction,” said
Rebecca Ostrow, of Annapolis, the dog’s
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owner. “The boy needed some grounding
to help settle down. For half an hour, Ziggy
was just chill.”
She knew Ziggy’s temperament would fit
the court’s needs, said Ostrow, 62:
“He’s low-key, laid back and he’ll let kids
climb all over him without moving. Last
month, Ziggy played the part of Sandy in
the Children’s Theater of Annapolis’ production of ‘Annie.’ ”
In the courtroom, Ziggy’s role is to assure anxious youngsters that the sun will
come out tomorrow.
Brady’s dog Riley, a goldendoodle, was a natural fit for the
job. “Riley has such passionate
eyes,” she said.
COURTESY OF JOVONE BRADY