Published on March 11, 2025
The Wilmington Fire Department welcomed its fifth dog to its highly successful crisis response facility dog program during a ceremony at WFD's headquarters Monday morning.
MILO, a two-year-old black Labrador retriever, was presented with his official Crisis Response Facility Dog vest by Chief Steve Mason and now joins HEART, AXEL, JETHRO, and CLYDE as part of a larger mental health and wellness program the department is continuously working to bolster.
The goal of the program is to aid in de-escalation of stress post-call, ease tension at the station, lower anxiety, reduce long-term effects of PTSD, and improve cardiovascular health. In addition, facility dogs provide comfort in emergency situations, both at the department and at the scene of an emergency in the community to ease the distress of anyone affected by the trauma.
MILO will report to work with his handler, Engineer Bill Beliles, at WFD's headquarters on A Shift.