Allegheny County justice brings therapy animals to court to ease anxiety of people in proceedings

Going to court can be stressful, especially if you are a young person. One Allegheny County district justice is trying to help ease the anxiety.

Justice Matt Rudzki takes part in Animal Friends’ “Therapets” program.

On Thursday, the organization brought a four-legged visitor to the court office in Sharpsburg to interact with people involved in proceedings.

“We are always focused on trauma informed justice so for my night court evenings, juvenile cases, truancy anything that happens out of the schools, we bring the dogs in so that folks can pet the dog, interact with the dog, dogs help reduce their stress and anxiety while they’re here and get better results in the courtroom,” Rudzki said.

Rudzki said he has been participating with the program for about two years.

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