Buddy has a Carroll County government photo ID, a corner office and a golden badge that could rival that of a sheriff's deputy.
He also has a crate, chew toys and a weakness for treats.
The 10-month-old black Newfoundland- Labrador mix is one of the newest staff members in the county state's attorney's office: a therapy dog in training, brought on to work mainly with young victims and witnesses of crime.
Therapy dogs in the court system are fairly rare. They have popped up in places such as Florida, New York and Washington state over the years, but the Carroll state's attorney's office appears to be the first in Maryland to employ animal assistance.
"Children don't want to talk about bad stuff that happened, especially if it's somebody they loved or still love," said Joyce Schaum, director of the Carroll office's victim witness assistance unit, who adopted Buddy from the local Humane Society last fall. "Lots of times, they're told not to talk. ... They probably never were told not to talk to a dog."
A therapy dog can be a source of comfort in interviews with children, easing them into conversation, Schaum and prosecutors say.
"You bring him in any situation and people smile. They just melt," Schaum said.
Research has shown that therapy dogs can decrease stress levels after as little as five minutes, said Holly Chalk, assistant professor of psychology at McDaniel College in Westminster.
"It puts kids at ease," Chalk said, referring to studies that indicate children are more willing to share.
That calming influence could be attributed to an animal's ability to distract them from feeling anxious and the association of dogs with relaxation and leisure, Chalk said.
"There's something very reassuring about dogs," said Alice Vachss, a former chief of the special victims bureau of the Queens district attorney's office in New York. In the late 1980s, Vachss introduced Sheba, a retired guide dog, to the office as part of an experiment. The shepherd mix became a favorite among children, she said.
"When you're talking about this kind of victimization, feeling afraid is the predominant damage," said Vachss, who prosecuted sex crimes. The large dog "made them feel safe."
Programs such as Carroll's are a helpful tool in working with child victims, said Russell Butler, executive director of the Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center.
