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Tracy Whisnant 704-477-7391
www.shelbyinfo.com Our 42ND Year • Issue No. 24 • June 12, 2025
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Local Crisis Response Canines team brings calming comfort to folks in distress By Alan Hodge There’s an old saying- “omne trium perfectum”. Just in case you don’t speak Latin, that basically means good things come in threes. Whatever the lingo, that principle certainly applies to the Cleveland County branch Crisis Response Canines (CRC) team of Robin Ledford, Jane Wood, Jane Williams, their dogs Major, Maggie, and Sunni, and the good work they all do helping folks undergoing trying situations. CRC is a non-profit 501c3 organization based in Turnersville, N.J. comprised of members and their dogs throughout the United States who have dedicated thousands of hours comforting individuals impacted by personal or community crisis events. Ledford explained how the Cleveland County group was formed. “I met the other two members at a dog training class at Shelby City Park,” she said. “We began
Crisis Response Canines cheering up Hurricane Helene volunteers staffing a location in Hickory. (Photos provided)
Cleveland County’s Crisis Response Canines team seen at a mobile hospital at Tryon International Equestrian Center last year helping folks impacted by Hurricane Helene. From left- Jane Wood and Maggie, Robin Ledford and Major, Jane Williams and Sunni.
in stress. According to Ledford, the training Major, Maggie, and Sunni received helps them remain calm in situations with unexpected sights, sounds, and smells. But why dogs? “Dogs can absorb the heightened energy of people in crisis situations,” Ledford said. “Dogs provide calming and comfort for stressed people, Dogs can help them reset their nervous system.” The Cleveland County CRC team has ranged far and wide to help people in a variety of stressful scenarios. Places they’ve pitched in include the condo collapse catastrophe in Miami, the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, tornadoes in Kentucky, and of course, Hurricane Helene here in North Carolina. Helene saw the CRC team in action at a variety of places including Swannanoa, Hickory, the medical center at Tryon International Equestrian Center,
and even Raleigh. At each of these spots and more, the CRC ladies and dogs spread comfort, hope, reassurance, cheer, and love to everyone they encountered. “We go wherever we are called,” Ledford said. On the local scene, Ledford, Wood, Williams, Major, Maggie, and Sunni work with Maggie comforts a person at the Nashville, Shelby Police, Tenn. hospital following the Covenant Shelby Fire and School shooting. Rescue, Oak Grove VFD, and Ledford, Wood, Williams, and other first responder folks. their dogs do in Shelby and “They see a lot of things that beyond, the Cleveland County are stressful,” Ledford said of Board of Commissioners recogfirst responders. nized and praised them at the Recognizing the good work See CANINES, Page 5
visiting hospitals and nursing homes with our dogs.” Ledford’s dog is a standard poodle named Major, Williams’s companion is another standard poodle named Maggie, Wood’s miniature schnauzer Sunni rounds out the group. Becoming a CRC certified member takes dedication and knowledge. “We have at least a year of special training through CRC,” said Ledford. “It is online and through workshops. It is ongoing.” CRC members are also trained Major and Maggie deliver food post- in psychological first aid for folks Hurricane Helene.
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