She wasn't your typical star witness, but in a recent New York court case, Rosie -- a golden retriever -- has sparked a legal debate throughout the US.
The first judicially approved courtroom dog in the state, Rosie nuzzled and comforted a 15-year-old girl who was testifying that her father had raped and impregnated her.
Though the father in the case was convicted, it wasn't a happy ending for the defense who plan to appeal, arguing that the presence of a therapy dog may unfairly sway jurors with its "cuteness and natural empathy" into believing the witness is telling the truth.
Prosecutor, Ellen O’Neill-Stephens, admits that while “sometimes the dog means the difference between a conviction and an acquittal,” dogs are vital to easing the trauma thereby enabling a child to take the stand.
For 11-year-old Rosie, it was just another day on the job. The courtroom something of a career change, she spent years working with emotionally troubled children.
It must have been amazing to watch her at work.
“When they start talking about difficult things,” said Dr. Crenshaw, the psychologist who has worked with all three of Rosie’s witnesses and many other troubled children, “Rosie picks up on that and goes over and nudges them. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
Do dogs have a rightful place in our courtrooms, or do they have the potential to pervert the course of justice?
Image Credit: discovery.com
Over twenty years ago a woman from Guelph, Ont., fought -- and won -- the right to take off her shirt in public. So why was another woman asked to put her shirt back at a recent beer festival in Toronto?
As a dare from friends, Jeanette Martin took off her shirt, and even though she kept her bra on, festival organizers threatened to escort her from the grounds if she didn't cover up.
Organizers were apparently concerned for Martin's safety, as she would attract unwanted attention from men. But Martin maintained that she didn't feel threatened at all.
"Deal with the guys if there is a problem," she said, "but don't come over and pre-emptively tell me that I'm going to start a problem."
It's back to the chicken-and-egg argument, it seems. Is it a woman's fault if her dress code provokes unwanted male attention?
Was Martin simply exercising a civil liberty, or should she have respected the organizers' judgement and covered up, when in Rome, etc?
Image Credit: cbc.ca
Parents often ask their pediatricians for advice on potty training their kids. A new article in Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) will help physicians respond to these queries.
"Toilet training is felt to be a natural process that occurs with development, yet... in reality, toilet training is a complex process that can be affected by anatomic, physiologic and behavioural conditions," writes Dr. Darcie Kiddoo, Divisions of Pediatric Surgery and Urology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.
Articles on how to potty train your children are a dime a dozen. Over 16 million to be precise. Even though you can have that barrage of information at your fingertips in milliseconds, parents are still tearing their hair out over the most tried and true means to get their kids using the can.
We've all been told (by older relatives) that Johnny was trained by his first birthday. But recent thought advises a more child-centred approach, resulting in children being 'trained' at an older age. Do rewards help or hinder? Inquiring minds want to know.
Both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Paediatric Society recommend beginning the process when a child is 18 months old or whenever they express an interest in the toileting process.
Although there is some evidence to suggest that toilet training late (after age two or three, according to various studies) can lead to negative associations -- including "refusal to void stool, hiding while defecating, leakage and daytime wetting or urinary tract infections" -- this latest report fails to give hard and fast rules about best practices.
As usual, parents are left to trust their own compass, ie. the gut-hunch approach. So to all those out there fretting about when little Johnny is finally going to use the john, take heart and remember no one goes to college in diapers.
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