At a press conference Thursday, June 7, 2016, at the Sherman Block Headquarters Building in Monterey Park, Sheriff Jim McDonnell introduced our newest, and most adorable, partners from Pet Prescriptions, a volunteer organization dedicated to training pets to become therapy animals. The dogs are trained and pass testing for certification to assist in therapy.

In November of 2015, Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell announced the launch of the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, one of the most comprehensive partnerships in the nation which uses a victim-centered approach to fight the heinous crime of human exploitation. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Human Trafficking Bureau spearheads the task-force, comprised of Sheriff’s detectives who work with federal, state, county, and local resources to focus on sex and labor trafficking investigations.

Task Force members focus on identifying and rescuing trafficking victims and work with the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) to provide victim centered services to meet the needs of victims, while working to investigate, arrest and prosecute offenders.

The task-force has grown to include five federal agencies, four state agencies, four county agencies, and three local policing agencies. These include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Offices of the United States Attorneys, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the County of Los Angeles Probation Department, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Division of Adult Parole Operations, and the United States Department of Homeland Security. Demand Abolition, which works to end the Demand for Sex Trafficking, joined within the last month, and the California Highway Patrol will join the Taskforce in July. Case workers from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), Los Angeles County Probation, and Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) who provide critically needed services for young victims are also called upon.

Since its inception, the LASD Human Trafficking Bureau and our partner agencies have rescued 97 victims, 72 of which are minors.

Together, they continue a three-pronged approach to arrest traffickers, impact the demand for sex trafficking, and identify and rescue the victims, keeping their welfare at the core of everything.

The waggily-tailed pooches provide a source of comfort and focus for attention, inducing an environment in which emotionally sensitive victims can feel safe enough to relax and interact with detectives. Creating a softer environment with the dogs during a difficult interview has proven crucial in what is typically the critical juncture for both the victim’s recovery and the detective’s case. With a little luck, they may even coax a smile from a victim who has endured a harrowing experience.

“This may be the most effective manner of disarming someone without them even knowing it,” said the Sheriff. “Victims can open up without reservation and provide important information to detectives, which may be forwarded to save others from experiencing similar tragedies.”

Sheriff McDonnell introduced therapy dogs Kane, a collie, and Logan, a yellow Labrador Retriever, who came with their owners, Ace Mask and Jack Yandell, respectively. Kane and Logan brought their friend Yippy, an Australian Shepherd, and her owner, Pet Prescriptions Team Founder Krystal Emery, and showed off their talents of disarming even the most emotionally unavailable personality with their toothy grins, perky ears and soft coats.

One could say things have really gone to the dogs around here. But no one is howling about it.

About the Pet Prescription Team

Krystal Emery/ Executive Director
Pet Prescription Team

Krystal Emery is the founder and director of the Pet Prescription Team and is the overarching leader of the team in its entirety. Krystal and her husband Philip of 38 years, work side by side, helping pet owners train their family pets to become Certified Therapy dogs. Through research and experience, Krystal knew pets, and dogs in particular, could bring solace and tranquility to people under stress and those confined to medical or care facilities.

Before starting and Founding the Pet Prescription Team in early 2003, Krystal was a Marriage & Family counselor for 24 years and used her own dog in her counseling sessions with children and saw firsthand that dogs could bring solace and tranquility to children who were traumatized. It was through this experience that the Pet Prescription Team was born.

As the director of the Pet Prescription Team, Krystal not only oversees all of the volunteers, events, facilities, and training, but also continues to grow the organization through outreach and advocacy.

ACE MASK and his Collie “Kane”

Ace is a Vietnam veteran, a 40 year member of the Screen Actors Guild and is presently serving as Vice President of the Southern California Collie Club. Ace and his collie Kane have been active Pet Prescription Team volunteers for over five years, providing support and comfort as a therapy dog team in a large variety of settings including work with patients in Pediatric Oncology and I.C.U. They also participate in programs working with brain injured children, library “read to the dogs” programs, visits to senior assisted care and Alzheimer care facilities, as well as providing stress relief for college students studying for final exams and passengers awaiting flights at Ontario International Airport. They were honored to be chosen as the first therapy dog team assigned to the Children’s Advocacy Center in Covina. Kane is a canine ambassador for Orange County Animal Care and he and Ace are part of their award winning program which teaches responsible pet ownership to young children. Ace and his wife Donna live in Brea and own two other collies who also work as therapy dogs.

About Jack Yandell and his Labrador “Logan”

I have always been an animal person from the very start, being fortunate enough to have two great parents that taught me the meaning of love and caring for all animals and of course my fellow man. Growing up in the little community of Pico Rivera, I attended El Rancho High School, after graduation, I entered the U.S. Navy completing courses in communications and then going overseas. Upon my discharge, I entered the apprenticeship program to become a union electrician for the IBEW Local 11 Los Angeles, Ca. I enjoyed 38 yrs. of working on projects from Catalina to Disneyland. During my early career as an electrician I met Sue, a woman that had the same love of animals that I did and whammo, that was all it took, being a great cook helped too. We married, and have two great adult children, Jack Jr. and Katie. Along with that came our beautiful granddaughter Aubrey.

Along our path of marriage, my wife Sue and I began our love of Labrador Retrievers and this has been one of our biggest joys. After I retired, I found that you can only play so much golf, enjoy a boat, work in the yard, etc. I needed something else. My wife and I do quite a bit of charity rides on my Harley for veterans groups, such as The White Heart Foundation and the Injured and Wounded Warrior programs. One ride we did was for Guide Dogs of America. We were losing our Yellow Lab Madison to age, this was again the worst time for us, having been through it three times previously. By the grace of God, the Director of GDA, was there and I started a conversation about the procedures of getting a dog from their organization. I was told they had a one year old yellow male Lab that was just turned in….we took Madison to meet the new pup and it was love at first sight, that pup became our Logan. Then it happened, we lost Madison, my wife and I were devastated, the only time we smiled was when we had Logan next to us .We had lost animals before, dogs, cats, birds etc., but losing Maddy just took something out of me, I got rid of my Golf clubs, sold the boat. I wasn’t even riding the Harley like I use to. I needed something, something to recharge me.

Well, that recharge came with my wife, Sue telling me about this organization run by Phil and Krystal Emery called Pet Prescription Team.

I was curious, and we signed up. We finished our training, became certified and picked our places for visits. As Therapy Dog handlers, this was it, my recharge, my therapy. Logan started out as a Guide Dog and now has become a Therapy Dog who brings smiles, memories, love and friendship to those that are confined, brain injured, abused, and traveling. The one of many mistakes I’ve made in my lifetime, is that I didn’t join PPT sooner, this is my Therapy and now my life.