United Hatzalah’s first therapy dog dies after 11 years helping trauma victims

United Hatzalah’s first therapy dog, who spent 11 years comforting people caught up in some of Israel’s most traumatic events, has died.

Lucy served alongside volunteer Batya Yaffe in the emergency organisation’s Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit, supporting victims and rescuers following attacks, accidents and disasters.

She responded to the 7 October attacks, the Mount Meron disaster and the war that followed 7 October, as well as emergencies overseas.

Lucy’s pioneering role also helped establish the use of therapy dogs within United Hatzalah, with dozens now working as part of the organisation’s trauma response.

Yaffe told Ynet that Lucy had a remarkable instinct for finding people who needed support.

“She always knew how to take me to where help was needed. She was amazing at trauma scenes,” she said.

Lucy began training when she was young after Yaffe and her husband Moshe, a medic and therapist with United Hatzalah’s Resilience Unit, decided to see whether a dog could help people experiencing trauma at emergency scenes.

After around 18 months of training, Lucy became the unit’s first therapy dog and its first four-legged volunteer.

Yaffe said the idea initially took some getting used to.

“When I started the United Hatzalah Resilience course, no one understood what I was doing there with a dog, but United Hatzalah allowed me to do it,” she told Ynet.

One incident which stayed with Yaffe came during a fire at a fireworks factory in Kfar Saba.

Lucy repeatedly pulled her towards a firefighter preparing to enter the building. Yaffe was reluctant to interrupt him but eventually trusted Lucy’s instincts.

“Then I saw that the firefighter really went down on his knees to receive Lucy. He took off his helmet, and I saw he had tears in his eyes,” she said.

The firefighter told her his nephew was one of two people trapped inside.

Lucy’s work also took her beyond Israel. In 2021, she travelled with Yaffe to Surfside, Florida, following the collapse of the Champlain Towers South building, which killed 98 people.

There, Lucy supported bereaved families and first responders.

Yaffe recalled meeting a grandmother who had lost three grandchildren in the disaster.

“The granddaughter said, ‘Grandma, this dog came for you.’ That grandmother lost three grandchildren in the disaster there. She hugged Lucy,” she told Ynet.

United Hatzalah founder and president Eli Beer said Lucy’s influence would continue through the dogs that followed her.

“Lucy was much more than a therapy dog,” he said.

“She reached the most difficult places and managed to reach people’s hearts in moments when words were no longer enough. She paved a path that dozens of dogs and volunteers continue on today, and her legacy will continue to help people for many years to come.”

Yaffe said Lucy had also helped her cope with the difficult scenes they encountered together.

“Lucy and I went through so much,” she said.

“Reaching trauma scenes can be hard for me, too. And having my partner there who protects me, there is something very special in our bond, in the way we know how to protect each other.”