To better improve its efforts on the mental health of employees and community members, Western Lakes Fire District has started a K9 therapy program.
Assistant Chief Matthew Haerter called it an "expansion of an aggressive pursuit for better employee mental health."
"It's something that has been in the district's sights for a couple of years," Haerter said. "It came to fruition when we were able to understand exactly what would be needed for a successful program and pursue the structure of that so it would be implemented properly."
On top of the employee assistance program that the district already offers, along with the critical incident stress debriefings, chaplains and more, the K9 therapy program will add another layer of focusing on the well-being of the district's employees.