Southington Police Welcome Emotional Support K9

SOUTHINGTON, CT — The newest member of the Southington Police Department is a trained emotional support dog that will provide comfort and wellness to officers and the community.

K9 Luke Jacob was recently donated to the department with help from nonprofits K9s for Warriors and The Jacob Perkins Memorial Fund.

The first station dog in New England, he will provide "a sense of comfort and balance" to the Southington Police Department headquarters and to students and staff at Southington's public schools, officers said.

"K9 Luke Jacob will work closely with our Police Officers and our community to provide comfort and wellness," officers said in a Facebook post.

In the post, the officers thanked Jacob Perkins' family, who started the memorial fund in honor of their son, who died by suicide in October 2019 at age 20.

The fund provides an annual grant to the Southington Police Department to be used for either its emotional support dog program or its K-9 Unit.