Dog is newest member of Wayne Township Fire Department
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — There’s a new member of the Wayne Township Fire Department tonight: Kali the dog.
The 2-year-old Labrador retriever got her badge and is now officially a member of the department. After extensive training, Kali will become a part of the department’s Kasey program. The program teaches fire and life safety skills to children in preschool through sixth grade. Kali is the sixth generation of dogs used in the program.
Jeff Owens, the Kasey program manager, “There’s a natural attraction between kids and dogs. Kids have adults stand in front of them and talk all day everyday and there’s nothing memorable about that. But to have a dog be the educator makes the skills that they teach more memorable.”
Kali is also a trained search and rescue animal and is nationally certified as a therapy dog. She is already heading out to schools where she is doing her job.