There’s a unique employee among Westminster staff whose role is to connect with people on a deeply emotional level — without uttering a single word. The work is so crucial that the people we depend on to help us turn to his fluffy fur for comfort when they need it. His mission is to make life better one snuggle at a time.
Meet Yukon, the four-year-old certified and insured therapy dog, who works with the Westminster Police Department’s (WPD) Victim Advocate Program.
“A therapy dog is different than a service dog,” explained Steve Major, Yukon’s trainer.
Operating as a team, Yukon and Steve offer critical services such as crisis intervention and stress reduction to victims of crime. They take their services to several Westminster facilities, including the Municipal Courthouse, Public Safety Center, fire stations, and the Adams County District Attorney's Office.
“My role is to change the situation that people are involved in, and Yukon is the conduit that I use,” said Steve. “A big part of therapy is that we change the mindset of the individual to ease them from what they're going through and give them something else to think about.”
The team begins every interaction by asking if a person would like to visit with Yukon. If they do, Yukon takes it from there, absorbing pets, snuggles, and even playing fetch.
“He'll come up and sometimes I've seen him put his head in their lap. Or just even lay down at their feet,” said Steve. WPD Victim Services Coordinator Drew Hogan is proud of the impact the team has had on both victims and first responder staff who experience indirect trauma in their line of work, like dispatchers or those who review body camera footage.
“It's about reducing the impact of trauma,” Hogan said. “The physical act of working with the dog is to help the victim or person get to a point of self-regulation.”
“Now, even when police officers introduce us to other people, they say he's their therapy dog too,” Steve said with a smile. “I've seen people that were in tears, and after spending time with Yukon, snap completely out of it.”
Steve and Yukon joined WPD's Victim Services Unit in June 2024. They completed background checks, numerous tests, and the same 40 hours of training courses required of all victim advocates to become Westminster’s therapy dog team.
Careful to reiterate the importance of people seeking help should they need it, Steve has a message for the community: “There's a very large awareness now of self-care. These services are available to you if ever you should need them.”
For more information on victim services, or to volunteer as a victim advocate, click here.