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Date: 8/16/2023
BELCHERTOWN — The Belchertown community may be getting a new furry friend soon.
Chief Kevin Pacunas met with the Select Board at its Aug. 7 meeting to discuss a proposed comfort dog team policy.
Pacunas said that the idea for a comfort dog program has been around for a few years in surrounding communities.
Pacunas said, “It’s going to help with building trust in our community even just being out and about at community policing type events. Everybody wants to come up and pet a dog, it spurs conversation. It can be school incidents, mental illness calls, motor vehicle accidents, victim interviews where you have a victim that’s not sure if they want to talk. You bring the comfort dog in and they start to feel more comfortable.”
He added it can help the community and is little to no cost for the town or department.
The Select Board discussed the proposed policy and members said they liked the idea but found a couple of problems with the language in the policy that they wanted changed before they approve it.
Pacunas said that the policy has now been approved.
Police officer Val Austin will be the dog handler and will be responsible for the funding.
Pacunas said, “Val is sort of with the understanding that it’s her dog, she is going to have to front some of the money if necessary. The town is not going to front any money or pay any money towards the program.
She would pay for some of the cost of the dog but there would also be fundraising efforts to make sure the dog has everything it needs.
Pacunas said that a pickleball tournament is in the works for the end of September and the funds for that will go toward the program.
He added, “It’s her dog but it sort of falls under the departments policies and procedures.”
Boonefield Labradors in New Hampshire is the breeder that has offered the dog to Belchertown and Austin.
Laramee said, “They have donated over 30 dogs for this particular purpose, so they really are focused on temperament of dogs and putting them out in the community to do this type of dog.”
Other communities that used this breeder include Greenfield, Amherst and the Massachusetts State Police, according to Pacunas.
The dog that Austin is getting has not been born yet but will be eight weeks old when she gets it and will be a full breed black Labrador.
Amherst police officer Bill Laramee was also at the meeting. He oversees the comfort dog program in Amherst and works with his dog Auggie in different towns including Belchertown Public Schools.
Laramee said that comfort dogs have multiple benefits and that Belchertown seems suited to adopt its own program.
He added, “There are probably about 15,000 interactions I had with people last year. Its really because of the dog. He is like the segway to the conversation. There are plenty of examples of the connections he creates and the connections within law enforcement, public safety are really important right now. It gives me the opportunity; they talk with the dog and then I’m talking with them.”
It also helps Laramee connect and talk to people who may be in trouble.
Laramee added, “I talk with little kids, I talk with college students who have made poor decisions. Fraternity members, I go to their house with the dog and immediately it lowers that level of anxiety of why is there a police officer here?”
Select Board member Lesa Lessard Pearson said, “There are actually studies that show that comfort dogs can lower blood pressure, can also lower anxiety, get people in distress to focus in the moment and provide that sort of a talking point to get the larger conversation going.”