Lake County sheriff's dog therapy team headed to Texas in wake of Uvalde school shooting

Frank Stanfield
·3 min read
1

TAVARES — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office dog therapy team headed to Uvalde, Texas over the weekend to help salve the psychological wounds inflicted on the community reeling from the mass shooting of 19 students and two teachers.

The six team members won’t just be standing around letting their English bulldog, a French bulldog and Lab lick the tears off survivors’ faces. They will be providing trauma counseling to a group with their own unique nightmares — first responders.

“It’s not just for the officers on the scene, but families, friends and the crime scene technicians who have been working day and night,” said LCSO Cpl. Robert Bedgood, who owns the two bulldogs.

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From left to right Corporal Erica Rodriguez (kneeling), Segreant Kelly Stone, Erica Stamborski (Community Services Division), Corporal Robert Bedgood, Chaplain Josh Douglas, and Chaplain Jason Low pose with therapy dogs Jetty, Eve and Mia.
From left to right Corporal Erica Rodriguez (kneeling), Segreant Kelly Stone, Erica Stamborski (Community Services Division), Corporal Robert Bedgood, Chaplain Josh Douglas, and Chaplain Jason Low pose with therapy dogs Jetty, Eve and Mia.

'This could save lives'

The team will also aid the fire rescue and ambulance crews who rushed to Robb Elementary School on May 24 only to witness an unimaginable horror brought on by an 18-year-old with a rifle and a black-hearted mission impossible to comprehend. Before going to the school, he shot his grandmother.

Local police have faced scathing criticism when it was revealed that a commander stopped officers from rushing in for hours, thinking it was a barricade situation.

The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a review of how the crisis was handled.

“No matter how it turns out, they are going to need counseling, if they quit law enforcement or face a future crisis in the future, this could save lives,” Bedgood said.

The goal is top nip posttraumatic stress in the bud before 30 days have elapsed. That’s the tipping point, Bedgood said. Suicide is a real risk in situations like this.

To the rescue

The team was contacted by a chaplain with the Texas Department of Public Safety. The man was running on fumes. He has only gone home for 8 ½ hours once time, a day another time.

Teams and their dogs must rotate, Bedgood said. A different team will follow the Lake County delegation.

The dogs on the team will have to have frequent breaks. For one thing, the heat there, close to the Mexican border, is intense. Bedgood drove the team’s specially designed van, equipped with air conditioning, fans, alarms and other equipment on the 18-hour journey. The others are flying.

Bedgood is the master of Mia, a 6-year-old English bulldog, and Eve, a 2-year-old French bulldog. Jetty, a 1 ½ year-old Labrador retriever, belongs to Erica Stamborski.

Breed temperament is key, of course, but so is the training. The dogs and their handlers have had hundreds of hours of training.

The team just added a fifth dog who will attend the needs of students with disabilities in Mascotte.

“We’re very blessed to have a sheriff who has a program like this,” Bedgood said.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Lake sheriff's dog therapy team heads to Texas after school shooting