EPHRATA – Nitro, a 6-year-old German Shepherd, is putting his paws to work by being a peer support dog for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

“We started looking into what are regulations, what does it take for a peer support dog and he either met or exceeded what was required of a medical facility,” said Josh Sainsbury, Chief Deputy of Emergency Operations at the Sheriff’s Office. “And we are not as strict because it is not a medical facility,” Sainsbury explained that he attended a conference at the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs last year that talked about the need for law enforcement to have more support within their departments due to the rising number of suicides in the profession.

“The suicide rate is higher than its ever been and the stress level, so its been a big push for people taking care of their own. It's always been you take care of everybody – which is very important – but you are ignoring your own people,” Sainsbury said. “You get involved in a high stress situation whether it's an officer-involved shooting or you go to a bad crash or you go to a bad call. Kids can be really bad – anytime a kid is involved in anything it can be really bad and when you clear the call you’re just expected to get back in your car and go handle the next call. Guys aren’t processing that well and it's not just the new generation, it's everybody.”

Sainsbury said the idea to get a peer support dog for GCSO came from two main areas. The first was during the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs conference when a speaker from Richland spoke about how the department got a peer support dog. The second was that there had been jokes around the Sheriff’s Office about getting a dog. While the idea was there, Sainsbury said it wasn’t seriously considered at first but that he decided he was going to make it a mission to get a dog for the GCSO.

He noted another example that was part of the consideration was the Kids Hope courthouse facility dog, Valor, who spends a lot of time at the Kids Hope office in Moses Lake.

“Well it just happens that our administrative assistant – this is her dog,” Sainsbury said, referring to Nitro just down the hall.

He explained that Tracy Hill, the administrative assistant who owned Nitro, brought up the idea of Nitro being the peer support dog for the office. Salisbury said when they looked into making that happen they found that Nitro already met or exceeded the standards because of his training and good manners. He said that Nitro still has one more test to pass at the end of the month to be fully certified but he has been a consistent figure in the office since December as they work through the tests.

Because Nitro is not a K-9 or service dog, he is able to be approached and pet by the general public who meets him while at the courthouse. Sainsbury has already heard firsthand how Nitro has supported a woman coming out of court who had a really tough day.

“He is a popular dog on the campus,” said Sainsbury. “He’s been to the prosecutor's office – he goes on a regular basis – he goes to the jail.”

Sainsbury said a lot of offices at the courthouse look forward to seeing Nitro and often ask when GCSO will be bringing him over.

Nitro is not only creating a positive work environment at the courthouse but is inspiring a bit of change too. Sainsbury said they are installing a pet waste station on the courthouse grass next to Lot C.

“He loves coming here,” Sainsbury said. “He’s been a great addition to our office but also the courthouse.”

Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.