It was an excellent impulse. Studies have shown the healing effects of therapy dogs in a variety of settings: nursing homes, children’s wards, cardiac units, psychiatric wards, even with comatose patients. Blood pressure goes down, anxiety levels are reduced, and pain becomes less prominent.

By Saturday afternoon, Truman had given over a hundred hugs; two teen-aged girls stopped crying as they paused to get theirs. Craigin said:

“He wants to give them that hug and that seems to be what counts… It’s the type of thing that people will for that brief second leave the nightmare behind, just to hug him, and that’s what I was hoping on, because I don’t know what else to do.”