NEW ORLEANS, LA — You’ve probably never met Suzie, the courthouse dog at Orleans Parish Juvenile Court. She’s a sweetheart, which is a good thing because most of the people who meet her are dealing with serious problems.
More on Suzie’s job in a minute. First, you need to know that she’s been nominated for the American Humane Society Hero Dog Awards. Suzie is now a semi-finalist and needs your vote. Here’s the link.
Now here’s why you should vote for her. Workers at Orleans Parish Juvenile Court say Suzie helps five judges every week and as well as interviewers with the Children’s Advocacy Center. Much of her job involves therapy sessions with young people at the Juvenile Detention Center or juveniles who are in court because they’ve been neglected, abused, targeted for crimes or human trafficking, or removed from their parents.
And she knows tricks! She can fetch, open doors, turn the lights on and off, and turn pages in books — usually for kids, encouraging them to learn to read.
Suzie also makes the rounds that other trained dogs do to schools and other places where kids gather and can pet her.
Voting for the awards begins today, April 4, and runs through May 3.
