'Raise your right paw': Kane County sheriff swears in two new therapy dogs

When a swearing-in ceremony at the Kane County sheriff's office starts with “raise your right paw,” you know something unusual is afoot.

But Sadie, a 15-month-old former shelter dog, did just that, with a little help from her handler, as she and her cohort Loki, an Australian shepherd, were sworn in Monday as therapy dogs by Sheriff Ron Hain in St. Charles.

While Hain was met with silence when he asked Loki to “repeat after me,” he still awarded badges to both of them. And rubber balls.

“We've wanted therapy dogs for victims for quite a while,” Hain said, adding that they've had one in the jail since 2019. “It's paid pretty big dividends in breaking down that emotional barrier that a lot of folks have in custody.”

The dogs were trained for about 12 weeks through a program at the Brevard County jail in Florida called Paws and Stripes. The Brevard County sheriff's office uses jail detainees, with oversight from professional dog trainers, to prepare the dogs for service.

Hain said he learned of the program from his colleagues in the Cook County sheriff's office, who also employ therapy dogs from Paws and Stripes.

The dogs' handlers traveled to Florida for a week of training. It was the only expense for the otherwise free program.

Both dogs will work with special victims like children, the elderly and domestic violence victims.

Hain said the success rate for interviews, especially with children, is greatly increased by using trained therapy dogs.

“It's upward of 80 to 90 percent more successful to gather information from a victim when that dog is present,” he said.

Sadie will work with Detective Deanna Velazquez at the Child Advocacy Center, where she investigates sex crimes against children.

Loki will be teamed with sheriff's social workers Desi Avita and Brenna Russell, who work alongside deputies during traumatic incident investigations.

“He's a great dog to be around kids, so whenever we respond to any traumatic event or we're doing a home visit with a victim or to meet with a family, we're going to bring Loki with,” Avita said. She and Russell will share custody, alternating every couple of weeks.

Hain said that the dogs spent a couple of weeks at home with their handlers and then the last two weeks getting acclimated to their work surroundings. Now they're ready to help provide some comfort and calm for people who have been through traumatic incidents.

“It's a really cool concept,” he said.