United Hatzalah, Israel’s volunteer emergency medical service, announced on Friday that Lucy, the first dog to serve in its Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit K-9 programme, had died after 11 years of service.
The unit deploys specially trained therapy dogs alongside psychological trauma responders to help calm victims, reduce anxiety and support people coping with traumatic emergencies.
In addition to responding to incidents across Israel, Lucy and her handler, United Hatzalah volunteer Batya Yaffe, deployed to Surfside, Florida, following the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium, which killed 98 people.
There, Lucy provided emotional support to grieving families, first responders, and members of the affected community.
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