A specially-trained dog was allowed to accompany a seven-year-old girl testifying in her father’s sexual assault trial. The girl cannot be identified because of Canadian youth protection law.
The girl’s father is charged with sexual assault with a weapon and forcible confinement involving her and his wife. She testified from a remote room projected onto a screen in the courtroom.
Trauma dogs have ‘amazing intuition’
Hawk is a three-year-old Labrador retriever trained to work with the victim assistance unit of the police service in the western city of Calgary.
“It is amazing the intuition that they have, truly,” said Hawk’s handler Sgt. Brent Hutt. “I’ve seen him walk into a room, bypass people that he knows … and go to the victim and curl up with [them]. It blows people away.”
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