10 months old black Newfoundland Labrador mix

This dog is 10-month-old black Newfoundland-Labrador mix is one of the newest staff members in the Carroll County state´s attorney´s office: a therapy dog in training, brought on to work mainly with young victims and witnesses of crime.

Therapy dogs are increasingly being used in the court system, popping up in places such as Florida, New York and Washington state over, but the state´s attorney´s office in Carroll County appears to be the first in Maryland to employ animal assistance.

Joyce Schaum, director of the Carroll County office´s victim witness assistance unit adopted Buddy from the local Humane Society last fall.

A therapy dog can be a source of comfort in interviews with children, easing them into conversation, Schaum said: "You bring him in any situation and people smile. They just melt."

"Children don´t want to talk about bad stuff that happened, especially if it´s somebody they loved or still love," she said. "Lots of times, they´re told not to talk. …They probably never were told not to talk to a dog."

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