Tessa Stow and Jase are a very special pair. Tessa founded K9 Therapy Dog Training in Benalla, working with dogs of many breeds to work as therapy and assistance dogs, particularly for people who have experienced trauma or are interacting with the justice system.
Tessa trained Australia’s first court dog Coop, who worked with hundreds of victims of crime and their families through court processes, including the Bourke Street Inquest. Coop passed away earlier this year, but her legacy has been left on many many people.
I met with Tessa and Jase the other day, to learn about her work and her vision for how assistance dogs can be trained and used more widely in Australia. Tessa told me extraordinary stories of veterans and first responders who live with post traumatic stress disorder and have seen amazing changes in their lives since working with assistance dogs.
Tessa is passionate about educating people about what assistance dogs can do for people who are involved with the court system, including victims, witnesses and first responders. While there has been trials for the use of dogs, including at the Neighbourhood Justice Centre in Melbourne, there is still so much more that could be done in terms of funding and support for court dogs.
Thank you Tessa and Jase for helping me learn all about this, and for all the important work you do.
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