A Group of Golden Retrievers Were Sent To Surfside To Comfort To The Rescue Workers In The Way Only A Dog Can Do

In the face of great tragedy, 9 golden retrievers are bringing comfort to those who desperately need it.

Dogs make everything better, don’t they?

That is why people spend the time to get their fur babies certified as a comfort dog. They just bring a sense of calm and contentedness to most situations.

ICYMI, there was a tragedy in Surfside, Florida last month. A condo collapsed with many people inside, and there are still people missing and unaccounted for.

I can’t even imagine.

Teams of rescue workers have been deployed from across the United States, and are still on the scene, every single day, witnessing and working with this horrific tragedy.

The First Responders are tired. They are weary. They are looking death in the face day after day, and it is sure to start affecting them in an awful way both mentally and physically.

A new team has been deployed to help in the area, but this team is a bit different than the rescue teams who have tirelessly worked day after day to bring closure to such a horrible accident.

This team is a group of 9 golden retrievers sent from Florida, Georgia, Illinois, South Carolina and Tennessee to bring a bit of comfort in the form of doggie smiles, unconditional hugs, and furry cuddles to those rescue workers who desperately need it at this time.

These doggos have been deployed by Lutheran Church Charities (LCC) K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry, who say that the dogs are to help with the grief that these rescue workers are dealing with on a daily basis.

The death toll keeps rising, and it’s the rescue workers who have to go through the process of finding all the remains amongst the rubble.

So these dogs are there to be a comfort, a sense of peace and calm, a respite to the awful reality that these rescue workers are having to face.

The golden retrievers, who left Surfside this week, helped bring some much-needed respite to the first responders working tirelessly to find victims and to family members who’ve lost loved ones. During their week at the site, the squad was at a makeshift memorial located near the collapsed tower each day. They also visited a family assistance center set up by the Red Cross and a local Publix grocery store.
NPR

The golden retrievers donned blue vests that invited people to “Please Pet Me,” and pet, cuddle, hug, and love on these dogs the people immediately did.

They’re just either shocked or pleased that we show up in time of crisis just for the people that are hurting and affected by the crisis.
Bonnie Fear, the LCC K-9 crisis response coordinator

The LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry has over 130 dogs that span about 27 different states, and they are dispatched to hospitals, schools, hospice houses, nursing homes, rehab centers, cancer centers, and of course, any place where a tragedy has happened and the presence of a dog might help.

LCC also placed hearts and markers at the memorial site. The group placed one for each person who died in the tragedy as they were identified, and visitors to the memorial site can sign them and leave condolence messages.
NPR