Comfort, healing, support — just a few things the Delta Police Department’s Victim Services K9 Caber and his handler Kim Gramlich brought to shooting victims and their families during a recent visit to Las Vegas.
Coordinated by the FBI’s Office for Victims Assistance, Caber, along with seven other victim advocate and facility dogs from across the U.S., were deployed through the Courthouse Dogs Foundation. They were part of a team to help those impacted by the mass shooting that took place at the Mandalay Bay during a country music festival on Oct. 1.
The DPD unit, the only Canadian team deployed, was in Vegas for six days, working at the family assistance centre at the Las Vegas Convention Centre and visiting area hospitals.
Gramlich said the FBI had two dogs initially deployed at the centre, but soon realized they were very well received and needed more.
“Caber and his counterparts did what they always tend to do, which is draw out healthy emotions in people that they simply need to express.”
She said the calming nature of dogs can have a powerful healing effect on people who are suffering stress associated with a traumatic event.
“They have the capacity to reduce people’s blood pressure, lower their heart rate and generally just try and put a smile on their face,” Gramlich said. “It’s very rewarding knowing that we can have such a positive impact this way.”
Gramlich said during the hospital visits, faces lit up the moment Caber entered a patient’s room.
“In a hospital setting the individual and their families have been removed from their home, their personal space and their comfort zone, so one of the things dogs do is help normalize an experience because it’s kind of just common to sit and pet a dog,” she said.
The Labrador retriever has been a part of DPD’s Victim Services since 2010. At the time he was the first accredited facility dog in Canada. Caber was the first dog in B.C. to be with a witness in court and was also deployed in the aftermath of the wildfires in Fort McMurray.
“We were privileged to be able to deploy this unique victim services resource, Caber, to Las Vegas to offer some much needed gentle support to so many,” added Delta police Chief Neil Dubord. “Caber has an extraordinary nature that brings calm and reassurance to those he comes in contact with. We are proud of the work Caber has done.”
