Community embracing Prescott Police support dog, Eden.
Shy of just one month on the job and one year of age, goldendoodle Eden is receiving rave reviews for her work in her official duties as comfort dog for the Prescott Police Department’s Victim Services Unit. And, the community is returning the love.
“She has already been hard at work, helping victims and others around the community,” said Police Chief Amy Bonney.
“She is excelling at her tasks: crawl, cover, hug and touch,” said Senior Victim Advocate and Eden’s police trainer Amy Fillingim. “We are so proud of how far she has come in three weeks and though we are all still learning, she is adapting well and the community couldn’t be any more supportive.”
Two fundraisers in February have provided funding to support her needs and care.
Fillingim said donations from the Breathe Play Love Yoga fundraising event for Eden on Saturday, Feb. 12, at Founding Fathers Collective in Prescott raised more than $3,200. The Bowling with Eden event on Feb. 27, also in Prescott, has garnered $10,000 from sponsorships alone.
“I am just floored at the love and support from those in our community,” Fillingim added. “I know they sold out all 30 spaces for the yoga sessions, and if I had to guess, I would say over 100 people came to see Eden between the yoga and just others who heard about it and wanted to stop by for a hug or photo with Eden.”
Eden responded generously, offering hugs and kisses to those who wanted to meet her.
“Getting an emotional support dog in our Victim Services Unit was something we have been looking forward to for quite some time,” said Chief Bonney about the recent gift from the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The community continues to love the program and support Eden and her ongoing work here at PPD.”
Local businesses have been instrumental in furthering Eden’s work. “Steve Sischka is one of the owners of Olsen’s for Healthy Animals, and he has pledged to cover the cost of food for Eden,” said Fillingim. “He also makes this same pledge to our other department K9s, Benny and Cooper, our drug dogs.”
“For the Olsen family, respect for law enforcement has always been important, and they really want to give back to them,” said Prescott Olsen’s Manager Ryan Baynes. “It’s for all the police service canines. All of our store branches [there are five stores in the Olsen’s chain] have this program with whatever local police program is in their area. When new dogs come in, we support them. We get the officer and the dog’s names and put them in our system. They can come in every week or month and choose the brand they want to feed their dogs. We definitely skew to a higher end of dog food, like the trends for raw and freeze-dried brands. It’s one of our specialties.”
Eden also made a visit recently to Pawz ‘n’ Clawz, a pet nutrition and grooming business in Prescott, where she was given a donated bath. “We put little ribbons in her hair, and she got what is called a blueberry facial, which refreshes the coat and brings out a good scent in them,” said Sandy Haffner. “And we also ran it along her backline so her coat will be curlier. We blew her out and left her with fluffy curls. The blow dryer didn’t bother her and she was calm when she was in the bath. Some dogs can be hyper when they have their first bath. She was chill the whole time.”
Further, Eden will be traveling in style. “We have also had a private donor who provided our department a 2015 Ford Explorer that will be used exclusively to transport Eden wherever she is called,” Fillingim said. “This community is absolutely amazing with their generosity!” FBN
By Betsey Bruner, FBN
Meet Eden on Zonie Living: Business, Adventure and Leadership at https://starworldwidenetworks.com/episodes/the-heart-edition-video.