APD therapy dog Officer Kora wins national award for providing comfort during Helene

By Taylor Thompson

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — The Asheville Police Department’s therapy dog, Officer Kora, is the 2024 winner of the First Responder Paws Therapy Dog Award.

This national award by FHE Health was awarded to Kora after almost 8,500 people voted for their favorite therapy dog across the country.

Kora’s handler, senior police officer Debbie LeCroy, said that Highland Canine originally reached out to her about nominating Kora for this award. With what first responders have experienced in the last few months in Western North Carolina, LeCroy said that Kora’s job has become even more important, making this award that much more special.

When she found out that Kora won, LeCroy said she was emotional.

“I think when I was notified, I couldn’t even say anything because I was tearful so it took me a few seconds to regain my composure,” LeCroy said.

The emotions were because after getting through the initial few weeks of immediate response, Kora became a critical part in helping first responders in the field.

LeCroy said they had about 600 officers who were coming through their department to receive assignments. She explained how they had a room set up with essentials for all the officers going or coming from the field, which is where she and Kora found their niche.

“She was there to greet all the officers that came in,” LeCroy said. “She made a lot of new friends during that time.”

With Helene, LeCroy said that they were all seeing a lot of things that were not normal and they were all working 15-to-18 hours a day. Everyone was running on adrenaline and LeCroy said that is where Kora came in.

“Therapy dogs are good at helping relieve stress, anxiety, fear. She’s trained in doing compression therapy,” she said.

Compression therapy helps soothe a person’s anxiety by putting calming and comforting pressure on them, which Kora does when she lays on someone.

“We would have officers come in and lay down on the floor and Kora would give them a sense of security,” LeCroy said.

She said that many officers would come to her in tears because of the devastation they continued to see.

“They didn’t miss a beat. They were coming into work and Kora was there with hugs, high fives and just doing what she loves to do,” she said. LeCroy said it was great to see how Kora was able to comfort the ones in need during that time.

“It just warms my heart because it has been a passion of mine, and to receive this type of award is just overwhelming,” she said.

Her hope is that they will be able to inspire other agencies across the country to start investing in therapy dogs.

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