08/02/2026
Earlville Police Department introduces our first Therapy Dog, Luna. Luna is a 3 month Shih Tzu and has a bit of growing to do. Luna will be with her handler, Officer Felecia Rasmussen and she will be assigned to the school with Officer Felecia. We would like to thank the Lions Club for their amazing donation to help us with getting Luna and paying for her training classes. We would also like to thank Tri County Vet for taking care of all Luna’s Vet care. Also thank you to Allycia White for taking care of her grooming needs. All of these are being donated by them and we thank you so very much. Thank you to Peru PD Officer/SRO Brian Zebron for assisting Officer Felecia with getting all the required things done in order to have Luna. Thank you to the Earlville City Council and Earlville School Board for approving this new addition.
Luna’s job will start on August 17th at Back To School Night and she will continue her training while doing her job. A lot of people have questions about what her job will be. This is a list of her jobs and we have had so many kids already that said they can’t wait to come to school and are very excited.
Reduce Anxiety: Petting a dog lowers cortisol and increases oxytocin, calming nervous or overwhelmed students.
Build Reading Confidence: Children practice reading aloud to non-judgmental dogs, which removes the fear of making mistakes.
De-escalate Meltdowns: Dogs offer grounding sensory comfort to students experiencing panic attacks or emotional crises.
Improve Attendance: The anticipation of seeing a school dog motivates chronically absent students to attend classes.
Boost Social Skills: Dogs act as social icebreakers, helping isolated students connect with peers and counselors.
Support Crisis Recovery: Handlers deploy dogs after school tragedies to provide immediate trauma relief and grief support.