This is an interesting debate. I think that there can be good arguments on both sides of the debate. Personally, I think the dogs can be quite an asset--and I think I'd want to have one near me if I ever had to face a trauma in court. Dogs are so good to people, no matter how shitty a lot of people treat them.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/nyregion/dog-helps-rape-victim-15-testify.htmlBy Helping a Girl Testify at a Rape Trial, a Dog Ignites a Legal Debate
Kelly Shimoda for The New York Times
Rosie, who comforts traumatized children and aided a teenager on the stand in a rape trial, outside the Dutchess County Courthouse in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., with Dale Picard.
By WILLIAM GLABERSON
Published: August 8, 2011
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — Rosie, the first judicially approved courtroom dog in New York, was in the witness box here nuzzling a 15-year-old girl who was testifying that her father had raped and impregnated her. Rosie sat by the teenager’s feet. At particularly bad moments, she leaned in.
When the trial ended in June with the father’s conviction, the teenager “was most grateful to Rosie above all,” said David A. Crenshaw, a psychologist who works with the teenager.
“She just kept hugging Rosie,” he continued.
Now an appeal planned by the defense lawyers is placing Rosie at the heart of a legal debate that will test whether there will be more Rosies in courtrooms in New York and, possibly, other states.
Rosie is a golden retriever therapy dog who specializes in comforting people when they are under stress. Both prosecutors and defense lawyers have described her as adorable, though she has been known to slobber.
Prosecutors here noted that she is also in the vanguard of a growing trial trend: in Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana and some other states in the last few years, courts have allowed such trained dogs to offer children and other vulnerable witnesses nuzzling solace in front of juries.
rest at link