According to the website Dogster, there are more than half a million service dogs in the United States, about 50,000 of which are therapy and comfort dogs. One of the approximate 50,000 dogs resides at Western New England University. There, a golden retriever named Bear works with the campus’ Public Safety Department to help students reduce stress.
His handler, Sergeant Alexandria Capen-Parizo, says Bear has had a positive impact on campus life.
"He’s been such a hit on this campus; everybody loves him," she says. "He just makes everyone’s day when they see him."
Capen-Parizo says more Massachusetts police departments are implementing comfort dogs into their forces. Last month, the Boston Police Department adopted a fox red labrador retriever named Copper. Similarly, the Greenfield Police Department in Franklin County has had multiple comfort dogs in its service, most recently adopting an English lab comfort dog named Frankie.
"I was really inspired by the Greenfield Police program," Capen-Parizo notes. "They had an officer, Clarence, which was a Saint Bernard, and I always wanted to bring that to a community that I worked for. So, I approached, at the time, it was Chief Woodrow with the idea. He immediately loved it and asked me to write him up a proposal. So, I submitted that pretty quickly thereafter, and Bear was here within a couple of months."
Bear, named after Western New England’s “Golden Bears” mascot, joined the campus in July 2022 for the 2022-23 school year. Capen-Parizo says the department had been receiving many calls related to mental health at the time. She says the number of calls has since decreased, and she attributes some of that to Bear’s presence, paired with the efforts of WNE’s counseling services.
"Bear is a resource when you’re in a crisis situation," she explains. "You call public safety the same you would any other time that you’re going through it. If Bear’s working, we will ask the student, 'Do you like dogs? Bear’s working, do you want him there?' If they say yes, we go in first, and we make sure the scene is safe for Bear to be there. So, we bring him in…until the person can kinda have a nice breath of relief and starts to feel better."
College can bring a lot of stress to students, especially since many are living independently for the first time. Comfort dogs can alleviate the stress, fear, and other negative emotions. Take it from third-year biomedical engineering student Gianna Arace.
"I love when I get to see Bear on campus,' she says. "It makes me happy because I miss my dog from home, and he’s always just so cuddly and happy, and it really brightens my day when I get to see him around."
The same goes for third-year mechanical engineering student Nathan Miller.
"I first met Bear when he was just a little puppy," he says. "It almost seems like he recognizes me, which I feel like, almost, a connection with him."
Capen-Parizo says Bear has become a prime resource for mental health-related problems on campus, sparking big hopes for the department’s pet therapy program. She says Bear will continue to appear at as many campus events as possible to help increase the stress-relieving environment those events already create. She also says the university may consider adopting a second comfort dog.
"We’ve seen such success with Bear, but Bear can only be here as much as I can be here, she notes. "He needs time off just like a regular human does from work."
Cole Strzelecki is a junior creative writing major at Western New England University. This piece was produced through a partnership between WAMC and the college's "Radio Reporting" course.