Police with paws

Scooby the dog comes to the university to help ease students’ stress. Photo by Daniel Shapiro

By Daniel Shapiro / Jambar Contributor

The Youngstown State University Police Academy received a therapy dog to help students and community members cope with stress, as well as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Scooby is a 2-year-old mixed Plott hound. Edward Villone, director and YSU Police Academy commander, said he obtained Scooby after two of his former cadets committed suicide.

“[The former cadets] were veterans — I’m a veteran also — and I felt that we needed a way to mitigate what was going on with veteran suicide and potential PTSD and stress issues,” Villone said.

Villone said got the dog to help reduce the stress that his criminal justice students endure.

“The dog itself is trained to recognize stress and/or that potential PTSD situation and will hover toward whoever it [might be],” Villone said.

An article from the National Institute of Health gauged why it’s convenient to have a therapy dog on campus.

“Interest has risen for therapy dog interventions at universities as these are cost-effective, easily accessible, require no training for students or university staff and can reach many students who experience stress before exams,” the article stated.

James Keys, junior criminal justice major, said although he does not experience any mental health issues, he knows many officers who deal with it.

“Mental health and law enforcement go hand in hand and not in a good way,” Keys said. “Most officers see things or experience things that they don’t expect.”

Keys said the old saying, “A dog is man’s best friend,” illustrates why having a therapy dog like Scooby can help ease the stress of students or those experiencing trauma.

“Having a companion on your side that can help calm you down after certain situations can help officers and future officers deal with trauma,” Keys said. “Scooby isn’t trained to sniff out bombs or drugs, he is trained to sniff out and visualize mental health struggles with these officers.”

Villone obtained the dog Nov. 11 from K9s for Warriors, outside of Jacksonville, Florida.

According to K9s for Warriors, its the nation’s largest veteran service organization focused on mitigating the symptoms of service-connected traumas. The majority of the service dogs are rescues.

Scooby lives with Villone at home and comes to his office every day on campus. His office is located at 2361 Cushwa Hall.

Villone makes the dog available to help students in need.

“If there’s any traumatic events that happened to a student, through the [Office of the Dean of Students], I can be notified and I can bring the dog for some type of comfort,” Villone said.

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