Canine counselors: hurricane survivors get puppy love
Therapy in the form of wet kisses and soft fur reached hurricane victims as crisis response dogs from Nebraska and across the country helped survivors cope with the disasters this week.
Gale Lothrop, of Crete, and Lisa Ashby, of Seward, were invited by the American Red Cross to work with hurricane survivors and rescue personnel in Houston and Beaumont, Texas. The pair, along with Ashby’s black Labrador retriever, Sadie, left Oct. 1 and will return in mid-October.
Both women are volunteers with Noah’s Assistance Dogs in Crete, and Lothrop said she has been coordinating similar crisis response teams since Hurricane Katrina hit.