THERAPY dogs will be in place in Orange from March in a move the state government hopes will improve victim testimony and fairness in the court system.
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Attorney-General Mark Speakman, Western NSW parliamentary secretary Rick Colless and member for Orange Phil Donato met two-year-old labrador Ollie on Wednesday.
The therapy dogs in the Canine Court Companion Program are made up of the 30 per cent of guide dog candidates who don’t make the cut to be assigned to a vision-impaired owner.
Mr Speakman said a number of dogs in training with Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, to be placed at Orange Courthouse between two and four days a week, would play a valuable role in “paw and order”.
“Therapy dogs have worked in hospitals, in prisons, in nursing homes having a calming effect on patients and inmates and we know they can work in a court environment as well,” he said.
He said therapy dogs also helped improve victims and witnesses’ testimonies.
Often people who come to court have been incredibly traumatised and it’s re-traumatising to come to court and having to tell their story over again, and often in a hostile environment.
- Mark Speakman
“Often people who come to court have been incredibly traumatised and it’s re-traumatising to come to court and having to tell their story over again, and often in a hostile environment,” he said.
“We know that [with a dog] people more focused and they’re likely to give better evidence and that means a fairer justice system that gets better outcomes.”
Mr Colless has bred labradors for a number of years and attested to their gentle natures.
“They have a happy knack of coming up and nuzzling into you, they can detect when people are in trouble or under stress or grieving,” he said.
While the state government has granted Orange, Bathurst and Parkes a full-time district court judge, Mr Donato said the time taken for a matter to progress through the local court system also added stress.
“In Orange alone, we’re having domestic violence matters set for hearing in May and I would like to see something done in relation to … addressing the backlog.”
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