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Pet Therapy Pooches Offer Comfort To UNR Students Ater Las Vegas Shooting

Anh Gray

One out of five students at the University of Nevada, Reno hails from the Las Vegas area. The recent mass shooting has left many students anxious and sad. Reno Public Radio Anh Gray reports that a campus pet therapy program is offering a bit of solace.

Paws4Love is a nonprofit dog therapy agency. Seven of their trained crisis intervention dogs are making visits to campus to comfort students. They're all different breeds ranging from a miniature poodle to a pit bull mix. Petting a black lab is sophomore, rugby player Lacie Reichmann who says she needs a break from the recent stress. 

Annie is a miniature poodle and enjoys the attention from students.

“It’s definitely impacted a lot of people here. I have a lot of friends who are from Vegas, in fact one of my teammates flew down because her friend got shot and is in the hospital," Reichmann explains.  

And we’re all just trying to help each other and make sure that everybody is doing okay.”

Sophomore Lacie Reichmann pets Piper, a black lab.

Along with their usual counseling services, the campus has organized additional drop-in grief sessions and increased the number of pet therapy visits.

Anh Gray is a former contributing editor at KUNR Public Radio.