Court dog 'Marshal' honored with a day named for him

At a meeting Tuesday, December 12, Thurston’s Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) proclaimed December 27 as Marshal’s Day, named after the courthouse facility’s black labrador.

According to the Courthouse Dogs® Foundation website, courthouse facility dogs are professionally trained dogs working in prosecutor’s offices, child advocacy centers, and family courts who primarily provide a calming influence for children during stressful legal proceedings.

“These special dogs are graduates of dog training organizations that are accredited by Assistance Dogs International. There are approximately 304 justice facility dogs working throughout 41 different states. We are fortunate enough to have four of those dogs here in Thurston County – Astro, Dave, and Cocoa all work at Monarch Child Justice & Advocacy Center in Lacey,” said Legal Support Manager Wendy Ireland.

BoCC proclaimed the day in honor of service animals and their trainers in the county, and the date is in line with Marshal’s 10th birthday.

Service dogs in court

The Board of County Commissioners posed with Marshal after the proclamation.

“Thank you so much or taking the time to recognize the important and meaningful work done by Marshal the courthouse facility dog, as well as other justice facility dogs, service dogs, and working dogs, such as police canines, throughout Thurston County,” said Ireland.

Ireland introduced Kim Carroll, a Senior Victim Advocate, who is Marshal’s primary handler. A Victim Advocate is part of a specialized team of Thurston County’s Prosecuting Office whose role is to provide services to victims of any crime such as domestic violence or sexual assault. Together, she and Marshal meet with and support victims.

The team said that Marshal has worked with hundreds of children and vulnerable adults over the years, providing comfort at court hearings and defense interviews, playing games with them, and turning himself into a weighted blanket for the children.

Ireland shared one of Marshal's miracle moments when an attorney was questioning a six or seven-year-old girl, and she had difficulty answering at first, but eased up at Marshal’s presence.

“When asked to describe her abuse, she couldn't speak – she froze. One of the attorneys asked her if she could tell Marshal what happened,” Ireland shared. “At that moment, she got off the couch she was sitting on with Marshal and she knelt in front of him she took both her hands and placed them on each side of his head.

“She looked right at Marshal and she began to tell her story,” Ireland added.

Marshal was born in Australia last December 27, 2013, and the Assistance Dogs of Hawaii professionally trained him before assigning him to Thurston County’s Prosecuting Office in December 2015.