#Dog in #court: what is wrong about that?

     Rosie, the courtroom dog, is creating a controversy in Poughkeepsie, NY.  Rosie helped a 15-year-old girl testify against her father, Victor Tohom, who raped and got her pregnant.  The guy got 25 years, according to the NY Times.                                                                                                                                      

      All Rosie, a golden retriever therapy dog, did was to occasionally nudge or nuzzle the teen witness when the girl became tense.  The prosecutors say that Rosie and other dogs can give comfort to witnesses, especially children, when they are describing traumatic experiences.   

Kelly Shimoda for New York Times

      Now, with an appeal under way, Tohom’s lawyers say that Rosie in court gave the prosecutors an unfair advantage because she was so adorable, except for occasional slobber.   The creep’s lawyers claim that dogs like Rosie may “sway jurors with their cuteness and the natural empathy they attract…”       

      My opinion: Any judge that rules out a dog in court because it is too adorable should have his head examined.  Any desperate lawyer, attempting to let a raping father go free, who uses the too-cute-dog defense, should be sentenced to 1,000 hours of walking shelter dogs.  This is the most ridiculous controversy, one that makes me glad I did not become a lawyer.

“The more I know about men, the more I like dogs.”  Gloria Allred