Facility Dogs in Schools

paws4people® successfully implements animal-assisted intervention within Brunswick County Schools.

paws4people and Brunswick County Schools [BCS] have executed an agreement to formalize their ongoing partnership of facility dogs working in BCS classrooms. BCS has set the bar high with their professionalism and eagerness to work with paws4people and to place a value on Animal Assisted Interventions for their students.

Laura Hunter, teacher at South Brunswick High School, is proud to enter this school year with her certified and insured facility dog, Dewey, by her side.

Dewey was initially certified at another school in 2018 and has positively impacted several hundreds of students in her initial three years of placement. Hunter looks forward to meeting new children this school year, and BCS leadership is supporting her every step of the way. It’s important to note that paws4people provides certification, insurance and support for each of their teams for the duration of their career.

“BCS has allowed us to create a fantastic partnership with them and as far as our MOU (memorandum of understanding), the responsibilities are split evenly,” says Cece McConnell, deputy executive director or paws4prisons® & Client/Legal Services. “We are grateful for our relationship with Superintendent Dr. Jerry Oates, Chairman Steve Barger and the entire BCS board and administration.   They just ‘get it’ and they really see the benefit of having Facility Dogs work with the children in their schools.”

paws4people® is a nonprofit based in Wilmington, North Carolina, and a fully accredited member of Assistance Dogs International. The organization has trained and placed, free of charge, more than 1,000 service, facility and emotional support dogs since its founding in July 1999.

To learn more go to:
paws4people.org/, facebook.com/paws4people or instagram.com/paws4people/