Four-legged friends descend on Michigan State's campus for relief
EAST LANSING — Calm-tempered, attention-hungry therapy dogs are roaming the streets of East Lansing and the campus of Michigan State University in search of hugs and people in need.
Janet Lillie, assistant vice president of community relations for Michigan State, has coordinated therapeutic services with coworkers. She's responsible for services at the Hannah Community Center and secured certified therapists through Ingham Intermediate School District Superintendent Jason Mellema and Eaton Intermediate School District Superintendent Sean Williams.
"We decided that we were going to prop up services at the Hannah Center and they provided all of the rooms they had and the staff has helped us there," she said. "We've had MSU staff come and be housed in the lobby to talk to people as they come in and triage them. Some want to see a therapy dog, and some want to have a conversation with someone. It's all volunteer-based."
A group of people entered the Hannah Community Center at 819 Abbot Road Thursday hesitant about speaking with a therapist there to help community members process Monday's mass shooting at MSU. It wasn't until Lisa Bronikowski's yellow Labrador Vinnie walked over to the group that they began opening up to the counselor.
"Anybody who's really just looking for any kind of compassion, any kind of feeling, emotion that they can get and a dog is just unconditional love," Bronikowski said.
Many of the handlers and their dogs have been at the Hannah Center since early Thursday. St. Johns resident Denise Palmer brought her therapy dog, Cosmo, a golden retriever rescued from Turkey, to the center.
"It's been really cool to see the effect that just being able to see and pet a dog, and have that calming presence and hear them say, 'This is what I needed today;' 'I wish I could sit here and be with him all day,'" she said.
David Cherry, principal at Challenger Elementary School in Howell, brought his therapy dog-in-training Champ to the community center. The mixed-breed golden walked throughout MSU's north campus and sought attention from students gathering their belongings from buildings.
Champ happily accepted attention from a group of women at the community center as they talked about the shooting. Cherry said he tries to avoid listening as people share with Champ.
"It just provided them that release. They just felt very comfortable and said it's the best part of their day just seeing him," he said.
Beth Lange planned for Coach, her Belgian Tervuren, to help kids learn to read when she initially trained him. Instead he's helping people after the shooting and easing their pain.
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"He can feel the tensions so he's a little bit stressed, but it helps him to be pet," Lange said as her fluffy companion smiled at people entering the room. "It's a win, win."
On Michigan State's campus, Crisis Response Canines, a New Jersey-based nonprofit, is used to deploying to places like MSU after mass tragedies, said Shirley Graziano, part of the organization's Ohio team.
Lillie added there's a separate team of counselors who work at MSU providing on-campus support both virtually and in person.
The certified dogs and trainers have been on campus since Tuesday, visiting various buildings and being there for students and faculty who stopped to collect their belongings at the MSU Union on Wednesday and at Berkey Hall on Thursday.
Graziano walked to Berkey Hall on Thursday with her Akita Zodiac. He demanded attention from people entering and leaving the building. He's one of at least five dogs doing crisis work, including with law enforcement.
Graziano recently visited Uvalde, Texas; Buffalo, New York; Oxford, and several other sites across the country.
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"It isn't as immediately impactful on us in a negative way and I think it's the fact that we're giving back and these dogs do so much, it reverses the negativity for us," Graziano said. "It's like magic when these people melt into these dogs.
Some handlers planned to return to the area next week when Michigan State expects to resume classes. Handlers' priorities are to break the dogs' work into shifts, Bronikowski said, so they aren't exhausted at the end of the day.
Whether it's university students, staff or Greater Lansing residents, handlers believe anyone could benefit from sitting down, collecting dog fur and embracing the animals.
"(Therapy dogs) allow you to get your mind off whatever is going on and just be in the member and enjoy the dog's presence and their loving, carefree and accepting persona," Palmer said.
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Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at 517-267-1344 or knurse@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @KrystalRNurse.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State, East Lansing get a little therapy from furry friends
