Vermont’s First Police Therapy Dog
May 7, 2020
This week, the Williston Police Department introduced black Labrador Duke as Vermont’s first Comfort K9 — in training. He arrived in Vermont on May 3 at just eight weeks old, ready to begin his journey to becoming a certified therapy dog.
Duke was donated to the department by Boonefield Labradors in New Hampshire. This brave pup arrived at Officer Matthew Cohen’s home, where Duke will live. Officer Cohen was chosen to be Duke’s handler, and he is documenting Duke’s journey on Facebook.
According to a “letter from Duke” on his Facebook page, Officer Cohen, in collaboration with the Williston Schools, brainstormed names for the new recruit and put the best of those names out to the school kids so they could vote for their favorite.