Belvidere’s LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs deployed to Highland Park

BELVIDERE, Ill. (WIFR) - Belvidere’s Bekah and Kye from Immanuel Lutheran Church, are just two of the more than one hundred K-9 Comfort Dogs with Lutheran Church Charities, that bring support to thousands of grieving communities facing the aftermath of horrific events.

“Once you’ve been to one tragedy or disaster, you hear of another one, you think oh we gotta go,” said Kye and Bekah Comfort Dog’s Handler Libby Robertson.

Belvidere’s Bekah and Kye from Immanuel Lutheran Church, are just two of the more than one hundred comfort dogs with Lutheran Church Charities, that bring support to thousands of grieving communities facing the aftermath of horrific events.

“Over the last ten years, as far east as Sandy Hook, they were at the Parkland shootings, the Pulse shooting, the shooting in Las Vegas,” said Robertson.

“And so, that awful tragedy happened on Monday, by Tuesday, the dogs were there,” said Immanuel Lutheran Church Comfort Dog Coordinator Sue Piske.

This week, Bekah and Kye paid multiple visits to Highland Park, with their handlers. The northern suburb of Chicago is trying to make sense of the loss of seven people, who died in a mass shooting where dozens of families and children just tried to celebrate an American holiday.

“This little girl noticed fireworks on Kye’s collar, and so I asked the child if she saw the fireworks,” said Robertson. “She told me they were going to see the fireworks, but they weren’t able to, and she didn’t know why.”

“There is a lot of sadness and things that need to change in the world,” said Robertson. “But we are able to respond with just love.”

It’s that love, shared by Bekah and Kye, that keeps Robertson going. In her ten years working with the golden retrievers, she says it’s remarkable to see the support a broken community pours into those facing the unthinkable.

Robertson also believes wholeheartedly in LCC’s mission, because to her, one of the closest ways a human can get to God, is a dog.

“When you can slow down, and you’re not in that crisis mode, and you can just take a deep breath, pet a dog,” said Robertson. “Then hopefully the healing will start.”

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