Meet a Texas dog who provided comfort and care to first responders at Florida condo collapse
Victoria Cowper of Dallas said her first major mission with her dog for Hope-Assisted Crisis Response was the collapse of a condo in Surfside, Florida in June.
Cowper was part of four Texas teams sent to Surfside by Hope-Assisted Crisis Response to provide comfort to first responders, relief workers, and friends and families of the victims of the tragedy.
For three days, she and her 5-year-old dog, Nana, walked through the gathering area, where kitchens and mental health counselors were set up, and near the memorial wall where people paid tribute to loved ones to comfort those affected the catastrophe.
“When I asked people if they wanted to pet Nana, some would just sit on the floor and hug her,” says Cowper. “People are sometimes more comfortable with a dog than a psychiatrist.”
Hope-Assisted Crisis Response services are free, but the volunteers carry their own expenses such as flights and hotel rooms. The Red Cross provided rooms to the teams during the Surfside disaster.)
“If Nana and I can give a moment of comfort to someone in crisis, I’ll be grateful that I can,” Cowper says.
With 23 years of shelter experience, Cowper has built rescue operations for animals displaced after disasters. While this work could give her a safer hand during a crisis, there are still moments when the scale of a disaster becomes all too real.
“On my second day there was a large police column with the noise of sirens, followed by a move of dump trucks,” she says. “Whatever the reason, that really got me. I looked at my team leader and said, ‘I’ll need five minutes to regroup.’ “
In 2016, Cowper and her nana were part of the first class of the Navigator Buddies Program at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, bringing animal therapy to weary travelers. When she found out about the Hope-Assisted Crisis Response Program two years later, she thought Nana would be a good fit.
Victoria Cowper and her dog Nana are volunteers with Hope-Assisted Crisis Response, a group that aims to provide comfort and encouragement through animal-assisted support to people affected by crises and disasters.
Courtesy photo
“She has a reassuring demeanor,” said Cowper. “Comfort dogs need to feel comfortable in crisis situations and around people who are likely to be very emotional.”
In January, Cowper moved to Dallas to become Executive Director of Spay Neuter Network, a group dedicated to providing free and affordable spay and neutering services to help reduce pet overpopulation in North Texas.
For Hope-Assisted Crisis Response, both Nana and Cowper had to complete training that included “psychological first aid, first aid for pets, FEMA courses and first aid for humans” as well as learning the body language of dogs, something which Cowper knows a lot about.
“It is important that a handler knows how a dog reacts in certain situations and also protects the dog from stress,” said Karen Klein, regional manager for the portion of the program on the Central Gulf Coast. “You have to be the guardian for your dog even in a crisis.”
You don’t need a dog to volunteer for the program. More information is available at www.hopaacr.org.
Send questions, tips, and stories about your pet to cathy@petpundit.com. You can read the Animals Matter blog at http://blog.mysanantonio.com/animals and follow her at @cathymrosenthal.
[ad_1]
