Judge Jonathan Sjostrom’s dog Mike was in the courtroom to watch the judge get an award on Monday. So were 13 therapy dogs, part of a program at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare that pairs children in court with a comforting canine.
The Animal Law Section of The Florida Bar honored Sjostrom for “exceptional contributions to animal law and welfare.” The TMH Animal Therapy Program works in court, among other places, mostly with children who have to testify. TMH volunteer Chuck Mitchell thanked Sjostrom for the collaboration.
“Judge Sjostrom’s been particularly great in whatever capacity he’s worked in the courts,” Mitchell said. “Anybody who’s ever worked with him or appeared before him would say the same thing, whether you have two legs or four. And in particular, we work with children most of the time, and the judge’s compassion for these kids is palpable.”
It’s the third year out of the three that the award has been given that a judge from the 2nd Judicial Circuit was honored. The TMH program began collaborating with the judicial circuit thanks to Judge James Hankinson, who died earlier this month.
Sjostrom said the therapy dogs help kids testify.
“When we started bringing kids to court about 15 years ago, for child welfare cases, it was really, really tough,” he said, “and the therapy dogs have been really instrumental in minimizing that trauma for the kids.”
Also on hand for the ceremony was Allison Hankinson, Hankinson’s widow, who volunteers in the therapy dog program with her black lab, Sadie.
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