Labrador Sworn In At State’s Attorney’s Office To Provide Emotional Support

(Photo Source: mystateline.com)

Cook County State’s Attorney office get a new furry employee

Hatty, a two-year-old Labrador, has been sworn at the Cook County State’s Attorney office as an emotional support dog where she will work with children as well as people with mental health issues who have been the victims of assault.

Hatty will have a 9-to-5 human schedule easing the stress of criminal proceedings young children have to go through and those with mental health issues. She is expected to handle up to 150 to 200 cases per year.

The dog has been making headlines for two reasons: one, because it’s the cutest thing seeing a dog being sworn in; Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx presided over the swearing-in and had Hatty stand on her hind legs over a table with a paw across a law book, much like when humans take an oath. Two, Hatty is the office’s first emotional-support dog and was trained partly by inmates at a prison in southwestern Illinois.

After her swearing-in, Hatty was given an official badge. She is now officially a member of the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Unit and is an employee of the criminal justice system.

The office tweeted that it was proud to have a resource like Hatty “to provide a source of comfort for victims.”

By: Maytinee Kramer