Parkland students honor therapy dogs in their school yearbook
Students at a Florida high school where a deadly mass shooting took place honored their loving therapy dogs in their yearbook. The fourteen dogs comforted the teens in the aftermath of last year's massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, CBS Miami reported.
The canines have been on campus helping students recover from the shooting that left 17 students and faculty dead on Valentine's Day in 2018. Earlier this month, the Aerie Yearbook Twitter account, the official account for the school yearbook, tweeted a picture of the pups.
We’ve included these cuties in the yearbook 🐾🐾 pic.twitter.com/CZScvAhjCN
— Aerie Yearbook (@AerieYearbook) May 3, 2019
Each dog is featured in its own picture. One even sports a bow tie. The photos were taken in October, according to the yearbook's Twitter account.
We love that Chief loves his yearbook! Make sure to find him to sign it. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/JHw0gjtptH
— Aerie Yearbook (@AerieYearbook) May 14, 2019
Yearbook adviser Sarah Lerner thought of the idea of adding the dogs, BuzzFeed News reported.
"I'll be teaching and in comes a dog and these big 18-year-old adults all the sudden become mushy 5-year-old kids and it's been such a comfort for us," Lerner told the publication.
The Orlando Sentinel reported the dogs came from different groups including Canine Assisted Therapy Inc., Share-A-Pet, Therapy Dogs International and the Humane Society of Broward County.
A Sun Sentinel's reporter tweet on the yearbook page went viral. Twitter users were touched by the students' gesture.
Therapy dogs have played a big part in the healing at Marjory Stomeman Douglas High in Parkland this past year, so it’s fitting each one got a listing in the @AerieYearbook. pic.twitter.com/QR48j7EED5
— Scott Travis (@smtravis) May 15, 2019
"They should all be valedogtorians," said one Twitter user.
Another said, "This is so beautiful my heart feels so warm! Thanks for making me smile!"