Pictured are John Osheka with his dog Sunny, the two volunteer time at the Butler County Courthouse to help comfort children who have to be present for court.

A group of children whose parents had to be in court one July afternoon were treated to a rare visit from Snickelfritz and Curleymac, two poodles.

The dogs' owner, Nancy Slezak, hopes such visits will become a regular routine to comfort children required by state law to be in court for issues such as child custody.

Butler County doesn't officially have a comfort dog program, according to the Office of Children & Families in the Courts. Created by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the organization aims to minimize the trauma children may experience in dependency court.

Locally, canine volunteers and their handlers are occasionally called in for specific cases with children, but an effort is under way to formalize the process. Statewide, there are currently 24 counties with formal dog therapy programs in local court systems.

Butler County is close to formalizing its own program thanks to the efforts of Judge Kelley Streib; court personnel like Cori Dunn, a juvenile hearing court officer; and caseworkers with the Children & Youth Services Program. The program would fall under the Butler County Sheriff's K-9 Unit's team and employ five canines as comfort dogs, known as the K-9 Council.

In neighboring counties such as Venango and Clarion, dogs are used in the courthouses. Several judges from various counties interviewed for this story all hailed the impact of dogs in courts as a positive experience.

“In cases where kids have suffered abuse or neglect, there's already been trauma and the last thing we want to do is to inflict more trauma,” said Sandra Moore, director of the Office of Children and Families in the Courts.

This is a preview of an article that will appear in Friday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read more about the dogs currently coming to the courthouse.