Therapy dogs offer solace after deadly Michigan church attack
By Melea VanOstrand
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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A team from central Indiana has returned home after helping a Michigan community heal from a tragic church attack.
The team included two comfort dogs that helped people heal.
The dogs spent several days offering emotional support to survivors and first responders after the deadly church shooting in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan. Four people died and eight others were wounded in the Sunday attack just as services were underway in the crowded sanctuary.
The dogs’ handlers say the canines have a way of bringing peace where words often fall short.
Two of the six comfort dogs, Magdalene and Eternity, traveled to help people cope after the Sept. 28 attack. A former Marine drove a pickup into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, fired shots, and set the church on fire.
Suzanne Ward was one Eternity’s handlers and went on the weeklong trip to Michigan. One of the moments that stuck out to her was at the coroner’s office, when an employee came in on her day off for comfort Ward said, “One of the dogs just noticed that she was just really hurting and just went over and just buried her head in this lady’s lap, and the lady just hugged on this dog for a good 30 minutes.”
Ward says the woman personally knew the gunman and had a lot of angst to relieve.
Lutheran Church Charities runs the Comfort Dog Ministry, a national program to connect trained therapy dogs with people in crisis. Dog Magdalene has been serving at Cornerstone Lutheran Church in Carmel since 2023, and Eternity just joined the team in September.
Judy Callahan, director of development and top dog at Cornerstone Lutheran Church, said about the dogs, “They provide comfort to those who are hurting, and or grieving and under stress.”
The golden retrievers work six days a week serving central Indiana and visit places including nursing homes, hospitals, recovery and foster care agencies, schools, and anywhere where tragedy is.
Callahan said, “The dogs have over 2,000 hours of training before we get trained to handle them, but there is ongoing training with them. We have 14 handlers for the two dogs right now.”
Max Murphy, Carmel site pastor and pastor of care for Cornerstone Lutheran Church, says the Comfort Dog Ministry started just a few years ago. He’s glad it’s now grown to a team of 45 people who work with the dogs in the community. “I have just been amazed at how we’re able to share the love of God through this ministry. It’s become so much more than I realized it could be.”
Nicole Lewis, the dogs’ primary caregiver, said, “They like to play and run around, so when they’re not working they get to be real dogs and have fun together which is really fun to see.”
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