A Manitoba RCMP constable at the Poplar River detachment says she couldn’t be prouder of a special friend who is following her example and training to help people in need.
Cst. Lesley Steineke first met Casey, a stray Husky puppy, when he was sniffing around the detachment looking for food. Stray dogs in the area aren’t unusual, she said, but there was something different about Casey.
“Many strays come by the detachment looking for food,” said Steineke, “and this little guy was gentle and submissive. He was forced away by other more aggressive dogs, and when I hadn’t seen him in a while, I went looking for him.”
Steineke found the puppy scared and starving in a nearby ditch, with purple spray paint on his back. She took him in as a foster and their relationship grew from there.
Steineke, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2014, said helping animals is something that helps her cope, and Casey was a natural partner in that respect.
Over eight weeks, the two grew close as Casey continued to regain his health, but Steineke said she knew keeping Casey would mean she wouldn’t be able to rescue any other dogs, so she made the difficult decision to put him up for adoption.
“It was a tough decision to let Casey go, but I also trusted his journey would lead him to where he needed to be,” she said.
As it turns out, Casey was adopted by a clinical psychologist from Quebec whose work focuses on PTSD and first responders.
Now named Enzo, the dog is training to get his certification as an official therapy dog, where he’ll be able to help first responders – like Steineke – deal with their PTSD.
“It means more to me than you can possibly imagine that he will be a mental health champion and help members like me move through trauma,” she said.
“It’s more than I could ever have imagined for him.”
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