Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp (left) welcomes Highland Rivers CEO Melanie Dallas and her dog Sweet Pea to the Capitol.

By Melanie Dallas, LPC

There is something about dogs that seems to speak to peoples’ hearts. Certainly, very few people can resist a puppy (which, when you think about it, is probably why so many people have dogs), but even full-grown dogs seem to attract people. Maybe it’s dogs’ lack of pretense – they just want (your) attention, want you to interact with them, to pet them – and they don’t care about your politics, your opinions or how much money you make. Dogs are uniters.

While I’ve seen this whenever I take one of my dogs out in public, recently I saw how dogs could unite almost everyone at our State Capitol – a place where unity might seem challenging.

As both a dog lover and a therapist, I am also a member of HOPE Animal Assisted Crisis Response. HOPE’s mission is to provide animal-assisted support and comfort to individuals affected by disaster. HOPE teams receive extensive training in Incident Command, first aid and CPR – for both humans and canines – as well as emotional first aid and trauma recognition, all of which enable our dogs to respond effectively to emotionally and environmentally intense situations. Because we often deploy on short notice, our dogs are trained to adapt to unpredictable situations.

During the last week of March, HOPE had the honor of being recognized at the Georgia Capitol. We visited both legislative chambers and received resolutions of support from the Senate, sponsored by Senator Kay Kirkpatrick; and from the House, sponsored by Representative Matthew Gambill. We also had the opportunity to visit the Governor’s Office to meet two significant animal advocates, First Lady Marty Kemp, and her husband Governor Brian Kemp.

I was joined at the Capitol by my HOPE canine partner Sweet Pea, a four-year-old Great Pyrenees, as well as other HOPE volunteers – Tammy McGill and her Rhodesian Ridgeback Rhobi, Dave Thomas and his Golden Retriever Oliver, and our Area Coordinator for the Southeast Region Myla Mitchell. The excitement of having the dogs visit surprised us all.

The reception we received that day impressed upon me the way in which our common experiences bring us together. Literally hundreds of people not only found us in the halls, but actually sought us out, just to see and pet the dogs. And when they were talking to me and the other HOPE volunteers, talking to the dogs (because many people did, even though the dogs remained silent), and especially petting the dogs, they weren’t Republicans or Democrats, or lawmakers, aids, lobbyists or advocates, they were just people – people drawn to share a common experience of the love only a dog can give.

Watching that, it occurred to me that everyone who walks into the Capitol shares another commonality – they care deeply for the State of Georgia and Her citizens. That is the reason they are there. Our legislators are hard at work, negotiating ways to make Georgia the best it can be. And while that can sometimes create moments of tension, it is clear that we all have more in common than we have in differences – even, or perhaps especially, our lawmakers. What our HOPE partners (two-legged and four-legged) experienced that day was not about House, Senate, or party, it was about people who love Georgia – as much as they love dogs.

In a time where it seems so easy to focus on what differences may divide us, it is clear that a moment with others who share a commitment to service (like the HOPE volunteers and our dogs), can help us remember that what unites us is much more meaningful than what divides us – and that what unites us makes us stronger. We ALL have a dog in the fight. A heartfelt thanks to all the people who love Georgia that we were able to see that day. It is truly a great day to be a Georgian.

Melanie Dallas is a licensed professional counselor and CEO of Highland Rivers Behavioral Health, which provides treatment and recovery services for individuals with mental illness, substance use disorders, and intellectual and developmental disabilities in a 13-county region of northwest Georgia that includes Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb, Floyd, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk and Whitfield counties.