Queens children’s hospital welcomes emotional support dog to help bring joy to patients

QUEENS, New York (WABC) — A children’s hospital in Queens on Tuesday welcomed a furry friend to comfort patients and their families.

Dutton, half golden retriever, half yellow Labrador, was introduced at Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center during a party held by the facility and Dunkin Donuts.

Dutton will be a full-time employee at the facility, and will be roaming around five days a week to support patients going through procedures.

“You know, when she heard that the dog was going to be here, she said she wants to come to the hospital,” Bobbie Singh said. “So when typically hospitals are a source of pain and stress, the fact that she wants to be here is just amazing.”

At 16 months old, Dutton is also Northwell’s youngest employee.

“Dutton is amazing,” Jenine Saccent said.

Saccent’s son Hayden has been in the hospital for the last three months after a relapse of leukemia.

“He’s so gentle and seems to kind of know Hayden’s mood,” she said. “Like he really… he just lights Hayden’s day up. He looks forward to his time with Dutton.”

The funding for Dutton came from a generous donation from the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation, a long-time supporter of the hospital.

“You know, he is like the perfect addition to our staff,” said child life specialist Stacy Madelmayer. “We got to actually work together and we’ve actually got into rooms together with him and patients and just being able to work alongside each other with Dutton there you can just tell how much of a difference it makes to not only us in our care, but also to the patients and families.”

Dutton was trained in Georgia with an organization called Canine Assistants.

READ MORE: New Jersey school district welcomes 2 new therapy dogs to help students and staffers

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