Several golden retrievers will be in Parkland, Fla. to comfort the community following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Shooting that killed 17 people Wednesday. Their mission: To help the community grieve.
The dogs are part of the group, K9 Comfort Dogs, which is run by Lutheran Church Charities, an Illinois-based charity. The group is staffed with about 100 dogs - all golden retrievers - and they come from all over the country.
One of the pups the group decided to send was Jacob. Turns out, this isn't his first time consoling a community that experienced a mass shooting; it's his third.
Jacob was in Orlando for folks who needed to grieve about the Pulse Nightclub Shooting that took the lives of 49 people and injured 58 others. He was also in Las Vegas right after a lone gunman opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers and killed 58 of them.
Now, he is in Parkland helping a community overcome the shock of losing 17 people in a similar fashion; helping students who lost classmates Wednesday.
Mike Flaherty, Jacob's handler, told TCPalm, a USA Today network, that comfort dogs are known to lower anxiety and blood pressure.
Scientific evidence is proving that comfort and service dogs are helpful at consoling victims. Earlier this month, First Coast News reported about a new study that showed service dogs help suicidal vets suffering from PTSD.
"The conclusion of this study is that veterans with service dogs have lower PTSD symptoms, lower depression, lower anxiety and increased ability to participate in social activities outside of the house."
The study was published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
