beat canine comfort

Lily is a unique member of the Marion County Sheri ’s O ce who provides a very special service.

› By JoAnn Guidry

With her ever-smiling, happy face, Lily is well-suited for her job with the Marion County Sheri ’s O ce. The 6-year-old beagle/corgi cross serves as a registered therapy dog, providing comfort to children in very di cult life circumstances.

“The minute Lily walks into a room, children respond to her immediately,” says MCSO Detective Janeen Henley-Freeman, who serves as the MCSO liaison with the Department of Children and Families and is Lily’s handler. “These children are in situations that cause them fear and stress. Lily helps them relax and be more comfortable. The goal is for Lily to help these children feel more at ease while talking about their situation.”

Henley-Freeman and Lily have been an o cial team for the MCSO since October 23, 2017. But Lily, all 22 pounds of her, wasn’t exactly what Henley-Freeman was looking for in a therapy dog.

“When Sheri (Billy) Woods gave me the go-ahead to pursue a therapy dog for the department, I had in mind a whole di erent kind of dog, definitely a bigger dog,” says Henley-Freeman. “But when I enrolled in the Brevard County Sheri ’s O ce’s Paws & Stripes College in the spring of 2017, I got paired up with Lily. The BCSO had taken over the county animal shelter, and

Lily was one of the shelter dogs put into the program. With that great personality of hers, Lily won me over pretty quick.”

So much so that by the end of the eight-week Law Enforcement Investigative Therapy Dog Course, Henley-Freeman adopted Lily. Next, Lily earned a Canine Good Citizen certification and became a registered therapy dog with the Alliance of Therapy Dogs.

Henley-Freeman and Lily’s work involves DCF investigations, missing persons, sex crimes, child abductions and child exploitation Internet crimes. In addition to working with DCF, the duo also works with children at Kimberly’s Center for Child Protection and those brought to the sheri ’s o ce because of certain crime situations.

Lily lives with Henley-Freeman, who also has two other dogs. Whiskey is a black Labrador mix shelter rescue, and Tollie is an Australian shepherd mix.

“Every day, Lily comes to work with me wearing her green Therapeutic Dog vest. She loves her job, and the kids love her. When Lily walks into a room, there’s an immediate sense of joy,” says Henley-Freeman. “I tell them that Lily is there to bring them love and kisses. In moments, the children are rubbing her belly and smiling. Lily brings them comfort when they need it most.”