Newtown Tragedy Comfort Dog Returns to Darien

Following the tragedy in Newtown, CT, in December, a Darien woman traveled 900 miles with eight dogs to try to bring comfort to the distraught community. 

Toni Bazon, of Darien, is the handler for Shami, a golden retriever who is a Lutheran Church Charities K-9 Comfort Dog. Shami's home church is St. John Lutheran Church in Darien, and on Dec. 15 they traveled together to Newtown with eight other dogs to comfort the community. 

This followed the tragic school shooting of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. 

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In December, Patch published Shami and Bazon's story and the positive feelings they brought to the children in Connecticut who were dealing with such a terrible tragedy. 

One little girl come over to sit by Shami. Soon the girl was petting Shami. She then hugged Shami and started talking to her and even smiled. Her mom told Shami’s handler that since Friday her daughter had refused to talk to anyone and this was the first time she had spoken since leaving her classroom at Sandy Hook where fellow students had been killed.

READ MORE: Local Dogs Help Comfort Newtown Children After Tragedy

This week, Suburban Life also profiled Shami the comfort dog. The paper provided a look at Shami's first trip back to work in a classroom for those with autism at Troy Crossroads Elementary in Shorewood.

"As soon as Shami trotted into the Shorewood classroom, the bright eyes of eight students lit up as they clamored to try to pet her as long as they could. Shami laid there calmly, adoring it without so much as a flinch," the Suburban Life article stated.

Read the Suburban Life's full story about Shami.