CASA Court Certified Therapy dog, Matilda, is in the running for the 2021 American Humane Hero Dog Award and an appearance on the Hallmark Channel.
Go to the WTVQ website for a link to vote for Matilda until May 6th.
C1 3 award but she needs your votes to win.
As we told you yesterday--- the 4- year-old lab golden retriever mix matilda helps kids through traumatic times.
Abc 36's kaitlyn shive introduces us to her.
"she's so calm that she has a calming influence just being in their presence" matilda the therapy dog has been working for casa of lexington for the past three years.
Casa or court appointed special advocates is a non- profit dedicated to helping foster kids and victims of abuse.
"matilda visits children all over the state of kentucky we have children placed all over the state their either abused or neglected children who have seen a lot of trauma so we visit them and she brings them peace and calm thats her biggest skill" her handler liz noffsinger says matilda has the ability to give kids who have been through traumatic events freedom of fear... "they will testify against their abusers they will talk in otherwise they havent i had a little girl whisper something to matilda and idk what she whispered but i have a feeling it was something she just wanted to talk about and she talked to the dog" in kentucky, a child victim of physical or sexual abuse must testify against their perpetrator in court in order for that person to be convicted.
Noffsinger says matilda is the only certified court house facility dog in the state of kentucky...which allows her to help kids feel safe when testifying.
"the benefit of matilda working with these kids and she can hopefullyhelp them learn some resilience and learn some to quiet themselves when they are feeling anxious" and matilda's skill set is not going unnoticed...as she's now in the running for the 2021 american humane hero dog award and an appearance on the hallmark channel.
She's competing against 47 other dogs in the therapy dog category.
But only one dog will win the title...so she needs your help.... voting takes place until may 6th and a link can be found on our website wtvq dot com.
In lexington kaitlyn shive abc 36 news.
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A CENTRAL KENTUCKY DOG IS IN THE RUNNING FOR A PRESTIGIOUS AWARD.