Furry Counselors

Tragedy after tragedy occurred this past week, starting with the bombings at the Boston Marathon and ending with an earthquake in China that took hundreds of lives. Among all the bad, there were a few good things that happened. New Zealand legalized gay marriage, the Pittsburgh Zoo announced the birth of a healthy baby tiger and gorilla - both endangered species - and the Lutheran Church Charity from Chicago flew in some comfort dogs to provide emotional support to victims of the Boston tragedy.

The golden retrievers, referred to as 'furry counselors', were flown in with their handlers to visit with people still in the hospital and other residents still dealing with grief from the recent events. The dogs provide emotional support that can be hard to find after such a tragedy has happened. The dogs from the Lutheran Church Charity were also flown to Newton after the Sandy Hook school shootings.

"Animals have an uncanny ability... to discern that you and I have sadness and distress," Reverend Ingo Dutzmann, a pastor at the church, told The Huffington Post earlier this week. "Rather than shying away from it, they're attracted to it."

At a time where it may feel like you can't do anything to help this people, or think of the right things to say to them, the Lutheran Church Charity president, Tim Hetzner, thought of an excellent way to help those in need.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/21/comfort-dogs-boston-marathon_n_3124023.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003#slide=2359903