Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/therapy-dog-salinas-fire-department/

Recently, the Salinas, California, Fire Department had some exciting news to share with the public: they added a new crew member to the team! What’s so exciting about that? Well, his name is Cruz, and his hair is a bit longer than the rest of the firefighters you’re used to seeing, but that’s because Cruz is a handsome black Lab that happens to be a therapy dog. Sworn in October 2022, in this case, he’s the Department’s first-ever.

Dogs in the Workforce

Salinas Fire Chief, Sam Klemek, told KSBW Action News 8, “There’s a saying that in the fire service that firefighters are more paid for what they see sometimes than what they do. And, you know, that could be more true in Salinas.” He went on to add that they regularly see trauma, and it frequently involves children, which is tough to take for anyone without a heart of stone. “That translates into cumulative stresses for firefighters,” he noted.

When Rescuers Need Rescuing

While the general public doesn’t always think about it, very often, the same people who come to our rescue are the ones that could use a little rescuing of their own. You can’t face heartbreak and insanity every day without it catching up eventually. Carlos Pimentel is a Salinas firefighter and Cruz’s main handler. He acknowledged, “It’s very important for us to talk about mental health because it’s a real thing. Some of those types of calls just compile over time.”

Therapy Dogs

Cruz’s role as a fire department canine began Sept. 13, but he wasn’t officially sworn in ’til October. Tasked with lifting spirits and quelling sadness or even anger, he’s already brought a spot of sunshine to the department. It was his handler, Carlos Pimentel, and a teammate that were responsible for making it happen. The hope was “To reduce the impact of the everyday stresses of the job and to reduce the impacts of PTSD, you know, in the grand scheme of things,” Pimentel stated.

PTSD

For a little context, the Salinas Fire Department is the busiest station in all of Monterey County, receiving more than 16,000 calls a year. Chief Klemek told KSBW that he was ecstatic to bring the first therapy dog on board and said, “All the other working aspects of having dogs in the fire stations, Cruz is actually the dog that everybody comes home to just get some licks and some hugs.”

Pets and animals have the power to calm. Their soothing presence is known to lower blood pressure and boost endorphins. And their feel-good powers add no additional calories, unlike chocolate. The next time you’re feeling stressed, give an animal a hug.

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog