PERRY, Iowa — Lutheran Church Charities deployed their K-9 Comfort Dogs to Perry, Iowa on Sunday afternoon to provide comfort and services to the community following Thursday morning's fatal school shooting.
The dogs go through 2,000 hours of training to help people process any stress of grief they may be experiencing.
"They like to pet them, they like to talk to them, they like to just be with them. And when they do that, the dog has now put an opportunity in front of the humans to break into the into the problems or issues that are facing that person," said Gary Kilvinger, the K-9 handler for a dog named Charity.
The organization only shows up places if they are asked, and all their services are free, as their main goal is to serve.
"Truly it is about going out and just bringing comfort to those that we meet, bringing hope to them," added Dawn Gilfry, who is the K-9 handler for Katie and Phinehas comfort dogs. "We have had experiences where people just trust the dog before they trust us and it just, we say kind of gets the paw in the door."
LCC K-9 dogs have helped in situations like the Uvalde, Tex., shooting and the shooting at King Soopers Supermarket in Boulder, Colo.
Now the dogs will be throughout Perry, IA through Friday, Jan. 12 at various locations.
"Just to have those dogs love on them, but even trust us and we love on them, and you know we are always walking away with new friends," Gilfry said.
The comfort dogs help people pause and reflect on their experiences, which means so much to those serving and handling the dogs.
"You walk away with a different appreciation for life, in general, all life, it's big, it's huge," Kilvinger said.
If you want to spend time with the comfort dogs while they are in Perry, you can reach out to them directly, or visit their Facebook.