Poodle helps save children from a spiral into darkness

Capital City Court Appointed Special Advocates for children volunteer Lisa Bax holds Olive, CASA's therapy courtroom dog Wednesday during the CASA After Hours event at Turkey Creek Golf Complex.
Capital City Court Appointed Special Advocates for children volunteer Lisa Bax holds Olive, CASA's therapy courtroom dog Wednesday during the CASA After Hours event at Turkey Creek Golf Complex.

He doesn't cry easily, said Brandon McMillan, host of the Emmy winning CBS show "Lucky Dog."

However, when he filmed a show about Olive, the tiny poodle-mix who serves as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for Cole County Court, editors left a lot of film showing his tears on the cutting-room floor.

"She was right there - I started crying with this one," McMillan told a crowd of more than 300 people Wednesday night. "When I have to release them, it's like a big piece of my heart going. You didn't see a lot of those tears."

McMillan was the keynote speaker for "After Hours," a fundraiser for Capital City CASA. The event revolved McMillan around Olive, whose celebrity continues to grow.

Olive and her handler - Lisa Bax who is CASA volunteer - have worked with more than 100 children since McMillan trained the poodle about two years ago. CASA is a volunteer-powered network of people from all walks of life who believe society has a fundamental obligation to make certain the children thrive, are treated with dignity and are kept safe, according to the organization's website.

Its volunteers, appointed by judges, watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children. They try to make certain the children don't get lost in overburdened legal and social service systems or languish in inappropriate group or foster homes. The volunteers remain on their clients' cases until the children are placed in safe and permanent homes.

As people entered the upper floor of Capital Bluffs, in the Turkey Creek Golf Course at 1616 Oil Well Road, they were greeted Wednesday at a table stacked with 
McMillan's book, "Lucky Dog Lessons: Train Your Dog in Seven Days." In the midst of a book was a tiny, floppy, stuffed animal - a replica of Olive, wearing a green collar.

The stuffed animal is given to every child who receives a CASA, said Mary Winter, president of the nonprofit organization's board. Children may take the collar off and wear it as a wristband.

Roughly 200 children came into the Cole County courts as neglected or abused children last year, Winter said. The court anticipates the number for 2018 will exceed that.

As the evening progressed, Winter took the stage and told listeners about the work the volunteers do. She described how children are in homes where they may suffer from physical - or even sexual - abuse. Police are sent into the unsafe homes to remove the children. Those children pack their few belongings in large, black plastic bags.

The children know what the bags are for - the trash.

She said - as demonstrated in the movie "First Man," about Neil Armstrong - a bad trajectory is a concern that has to be changed quickly.

"It's so important that you change a bad trajectory at the first moment. It's the same for children," she said. "If we can't help them, the alternative is like a rocket - it will spiral into darkness."

The CASA volunteers gather information to give to the judge in the courtroom.

There were 23 families with more than 50 children in juvenile court Wednesday, Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem said.

"The last two weeks have been very busy," he said. "That is not good. I would like to be out of business."

Although there was a high number of children in court Wednesday, each case on the docket had its own CASA, which was a first for Capital City CASA, which began in 2011, Winter said. The organization "graduated" eight new volunteers from training last week, raising its total to 63.

All but one of the new advocates has already received their first case.

Still, there are 157 children in the Cole County court.

The next CASA class will begin training in January. To volunteer, call 573-893-2272.

Volunteers receive 40 hours of training, Capital City CASA Executive Director Gina Clement said. They participate in online classes, five nights of three-hour classes, court observation and other training.

"We use class time to talk about things like trauma and poverty," Clement said. "They are trained before they start a case."

Training was a theme for the evening. McMillan fielded questions about how to train a dog to be a good family dog and a watch dog. He responded that if it is a good and loyal family dog, the watch dog part will be there.

One concerned audience member asked how they might stop their dog from chasing their cat.

He told the questioner not to be too concerned.

"That cat's going to teach the dog a lesson one day," McMillan said. "The dog is not going to like what the slap feels like."

Another curious viewer asked how McMillan came to receive Olive. Joking that since the viewer had obviously not seen the episode of his show concerning Olive, he explained he chooses a lot of his dogs from shelters. In Los Angeles, there are many shelters that will kill a dog within 24 hours.

He found Olive and took her home to his ranch. As he sat and watched television, she sat near and looked at him with those sad eyes. He told her he'd play with her later and continued to watch television. She moved closer and looked at him again. McMillan again told her he'd get to her. She squeezed in closer.

"This dog was trying to tell me, 'I want a job,'" McMillan said. "That job is a therapy dog."