Port Alberni RCMP have a new member of their Police Victim Services team: Milo.
Camilo, who goes by "Milo" is a two-and-a-half-year-old, black Labrador Retriever who was bred, raised and trained to be a Justice Facility Dog and was chosen for his calm and stable temperament.
Milo was provided to the Port Alberni RCMP Victim Services team by the Pacific Assistance Dogs Society (PADS). The society is accredited through Assistance Dogs International (ADI), which adheres to the highest calibre of training standards available, according to an RCMP press release.
Bred through the PADS breeding program, Milo spent his first year and a half in a designated puppy handlers’ home where he was exposed to as many different situations as possible. From there, Milo went on to receive more than six months of daily training by a certified PADS trainer.
Milo now lives with Tamara Cocco, manager of Police Victim Services for Port Alberni, Tofino and Ucluelet. Cocco is Milo's certified PADS handler.
"In the short time Milo has been with the program, I have witnessed first hand the benefit of his service to members of our community," said Cocco.
"Milo is a benefit to the Victim Services program and can assist victims of crime and trauma in a variety of different circumstances," she explained. "Milo can support victims during interviews or when talking with police, to provide comfort during emotion-filled conversations or while completing paperwork, or to support witnesses by attending pre-trial interviews and sitting with vulnerable witnesses at court."
Milo helps people in a non-judgmental way by reducing blood pressure, lowering heart rates, helping people to return to an adaptive level of functioning and providing cathartic and healing touch. His presence, said supporters, reduces the negative effects of stress hormones and helps to improve cognitive functioning.
