Child victims of sexual and physical assault can sometimes be too anxious to testify against the perpetrator, especially if the perpetrator is a family member. The result of the continued trauma from being on the stand can sometimes challenge the court’s ability to have the child testify; sometimes resulting in a mistrial. In an effort to decrease this possibility and to address and alleviate the increased anxieties that many children have when needing to testify attorneys have begun to look for ways to make the process smoother by utilizing therapy animals, specifically dogs.
In partnership with the group Paws’itive Teams, members of The San Diego County District Attorney’s office have begun incorporating dogs for children during victim/witness testimony and is known as the Victim/Witness Support program. This program is staffed by Paws’itive Teams volunteers and currently there are no age restrictions on who can receive support from a dog.
Association for Human-Animal Bond Studies has received funding from St. Germaine Children’s Charity in order to develop formal training materials for prospective Teams. As the request for dogs during testimony increases, so does the need for the development of formal guidelines, training materials, and evaluation processes.
We are working in partnership with both Paws’itive Teams and the San Diego District Attorney offices to help develop plans and tools that will expand this program. The result being the ability for the District Attorney’s office to fulfill all requests for dogs as comfort items for the victim/witness child during testimony.
