Candice Wang
The Sacramento Bee
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A dispatcher at the Sacramento Police Department has made a new friend to help him cope with last week’s death of officer Tara O’Sullivan.
This friend happens to be four-legged, furry and just 3 months old.
“This story, after the events of this week, is a little bit of light in the darkness,” the police department said in a Facebook post.
One day after the tragic shooting death of O’Sullivan on Wednesday, puppies from the city’s Front Street Shelter were brought to the police department, according to the shelter’s spokesman Bobby Mann.
“We were requested ... to bring a bit of joy for the dispatchers who were on call the night before,” Mann said. “We wrangled up some puppies and brought them to the SPD and allowed them to cuddle and have quiet time with the dogs.”
According to Mann, the shelter and police department have an informal arrangement. Whenever the department needs the support, the shelter does its best to send therapy dogs over to bring comfort to those in the line of duty.
Last Thursday, however, one of the dispatchers fell in love with one of the puppies.
“It felt like it was a mutual rescue,” Mann said. “He rescued the dog and the dog also rescued him. “
The puppy is a 3-month-old Rhodesian Ridgeback, and had been at the shelter for only a few weeks. The lucky dog went up for adoption the same day he was adopted by the dispatcher.
———
©2019 The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.)