Scotty’s House is a non-profit Child Advocacy Center that serves the seven counties in the Brazos Valley. Their team works to provide comfort and justice to victims of child abuse through professional assessment, counseling, and education using a compassionate and collaborative approach.

Paws for Hope is the facility dog program recently launched at Scotty’s House to enhance and better promote the mission of Scotty’s House.

Paws for Hope was created to enhance the mission of the Scotty’s House Child Advocacy Center. The program will do so by providing quiet companionship to children during forensic interviews, medical exams, therapy sessions, and legal proceedings. This program will allow children to participate more fully in these activities. 

A facility dog is a graduate from an assistance dog organization that is a member of Assistance Dogs International, a non-profit organization that establishes and promotes the standards of excellence in all areas of assistance dog acquisition, training, and partnership. 

Sawyer, the Scotty’s House facility dog, was trained by Canine Companions for Independence and is the first dog to be a part of the Paws for Hope program. 

Sawyer’s main priorities will be to provide accompaniment to children (birth to 17 years old as well as developmentally-delayed adults) during forensic interviews, medical exams, therapy sessions, and legal proceedings. Sawyer’s presence in the courtroom during special legal proceedings will be at the judge’s discretion. 

No, Sawyer is neither a service dog nor a therapy dog. He is a facility dog. 

A non-profit organization, established in 1975, who breeds, trains, and provides highly trained assistance dogs free of charge to organizations and people with disabilities.

Visit the Scotty’s House website at ScottysHouse.org to learn more or sign up on our website to become a volunteer! 

Visit the Paws for Hope website at PawsForHope.net to learn more about the program and Sawyer.

Visit the Canine Companions for Independence website at CCI.org to learn more about the assistance dog program.