SERVICE FUR-EVER

Heroes come in all shapes, sizes … and species, particularly in the case of the woman and therapy dog duo that went to Maui to provide comfort to the island’s people in the aftermath of the recent, devastating fire.

Texas State University Police Department Mental Health Officer Kendra Marstellar and Brady, the TXST therapy dog, recently heeded the call without hesitation, to provide a friendly face and, in Brady’s case, some soft snuggles to those in need.

On the route out of Lahaina, on the Northwest coast of Maui Island, Marstellar said she saw a sign that said Lahaina Strong and had flags at half-staff.

Below the flags supporting the devastated community, she said there are ribbons that identify the missing, and when someone is found the ribbon is replaced with a cross. There are 97 crosses and hundreds of ribbons.

“Respect the locals,” Marstellar said. “They’re still going through it … They’re emotions are still going to be high … Give them time because they’re trying to rebuild, not just structures, but their families and their emotions.”

To give a sense of scope, Marstellar said the devastation in Maui was even worse than in what she had seen in Bastrop–after the 2011 32,000-acre inferno that killed two people and destroyed countless homes, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

“It was hard to see,” Marstellar said.

The pair are the perfect duo to assist the people of Maui. At the university, Marstellar’s daily role involves helping anyone in crisis–staff and students alike.

She said that Brady, aside from being an incredibly handsome yellow lab, plays a different but equally important role.

“Brady tags along with me as a bridge to help calm a situation or bridge a gap with law enforcement,” Marstellar said. “Say someone doesn’t really like law enforcement, he kind of opens up the communication.”

Brady has extensive training–more than most therapy dogs. Marstellar said that she flew to Florida to get him and spent a week training with him, which culminated in “a good citizen test” to ensure that he is not reactive to strangers.

She said he has an additional off-leash certification.

So, if she drops the leash, he will stay right by her side and will come when called. He also has three to six months of therapy dog training.

“He goes out to businesses or restaurants and interacts with people, and that’s where he gets that sense of the chemical imbalances that people have,” Marstellar said. “You might be having a bad day or something might be going on in your life, and you would never know physically, but a dog could smell it … They always know.”

Marstellar heard about the opportunity to go to Maui from her chief, Matthew Carmichael, who has a partnership with the prosecutor’s office in Maui.

“We do an international conference with victims of mass destruction or mass casualty victims,” Marstellar said. “He said, ‘Hey, do you want to go?’ I said, ‘They need me. Let’s go.’” Marstellar and Brady had a packed schedule during their two-week trip. She said they visited many locations around the island offering support: the fire department, the prosecutor's office, the medical examiner's office, The University Of Hawaii Maui College, FEMA recovery centers, various police departments across the island, the mayor’s office, churches, emergency operations centers, several distribution centers (that provide families with any goods that are needed, for free) and the Department of Public Works, which was the ignition point for the fire caused by electrical wiring.

“He [Brady] was my support too,” Marstellar said. “We kind of just decompressed at the beach a little bit. It was just right across the street.”

Marstellar said at one point they were in Napili Park, which was functioning as a safe haven with temporary structures and a distribution center for many that had lost their homes, some of which were passed down through generations. She met 11 officers that lost their homes as well.

Marstellar said there was a young girl they met that lost her family and her dog.

Marstellar had brought stuffed animals that looked like Brady and gave one to the girl.

“She lit up,” Marstellar said, with tears in her eyes. “I was like, ‘Whenever you’re scared, just hold on to baby Brady.’” When they were at the Department of Public Works speaking to the same crew who was there when the fire ignited.

“You could see the devastation on their faces,” Marstellar said. “They pointed out a table and Brady just nudged up to him [a man at the table] … put his nose to his leg, and he just fell and started petting him. And he turned, and looked at me and looked at him. You could see tears in his eyes. It turns out that was the mental health services table in the civics center.”

Marstellar said the people in Maui were happy to have them in light of the tragedy they had all just experienced.

“The lieutenant that I paired up with had lost her home, and in the midst of all of that … she still paired up with me and showed me places,” Marstellar said, adding that Brady was spoiled by the locals with many “meat sticks,” a treat similar to a Slim Jim. “They were very welcoming. Very much a community … very hopeful, still a lot of emotions and a lot of stuff to work though.”

For a list of organizations that are taking donations for Maui fire victims go to this link civilbeat.org/2023/09/ help-maui-fire-victimsheres- how-you-can-donate.