CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The City of Corpus Christi has two furry canines that have become the paw-fect addition to the Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD) and the Corpus Christi Fire Department (CCFD).
Even though they're with two different departments, they have one common goal... serving their community.
Baisa, a two-and-a-half-year-old Labrador Retriever, joined the fire department through an initiative by State Farm Insurance. It's part of their Arson Dog Program that began in 1993.
Baisa is a certified accelerant detection canine. That means she's got a nose for arson investigations and helps sniff out the cause of fires. In return, her skills not only help the fire department, her efforts also help State Farm with filing arson claims.
This year, she helped CCFD with at least 57 fire investigations.
“Dog's noses are so good that sometimes it’s even better than some of the lab results that we get," Corpus Christi Fire Battalion Chief Tony Perez said. "They’re so minute in the amount of accelerants. If it was an arson related fire, it would be more than just trace amounts and she’d alert on those right away.”
Just across town is another four-legged first responder, Justice. She is a Golden Retriever, full of love and a whole bunch of kisses.
“They’re just so happy to see her. They give you that momentarily smile like, ‘Man life is not as bad as I think for a second,'" CCPD Senior Officer Chris Lynch, who is Justices' handler said.
Justice joined the police department in April and is their official emotional support therapy dog. In many cases, Justice provides comfort to all kinds of people, including domestic violence and sexual assault victims, patients in the hospital and even students in schools.
“So we take her to officer-involved shooting debriefs, any critical incident debriefs, with children that have been through traumatic incidents. It’s just a special thing to see how everyone feels better," Lynch added.
If you're interested in staying connected with Justice, check out her social media page.
Both the Corpus Christi Fire Department and the Police Department are hoping to expand the support of these programs to better serve the neighborhoods of the community.
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