Appearing in court, even as a witness, can be stressful for trauma survivors, particularly if they happen to be children.
But now those kids have a new friend named Nitro to help them through the process. The latest recruit to the Zebra Child and Youth Advocacy Centre’s team of “buddy dogs” made his debut Sunday at the centre’s Ladies of the Green fundraiser.
“Today we have brought back the old event called ‘Ladies on the Green’ but now instead of being on a golf course, we’re in an office tower in downtown Edmonton,” said Zebra centre CEO Emmy Stuebing. “The proceeds from this event will be supporting our dog program. Our facility dogs play a really big role in providing comfort and courage to kids who have experienced abuse.
“Sometimes kiddos will come to the Zebra Centre and they don’t want to talk to anybody, but they’ll talk to a dog.”
Stuebing said there were approximately 200 supporters in attendance. The goal was to raise $100,000, enough to care for two dogs for a year.
Zebra Child and Youth Advocacy Centre CEO Emmy Stuebing, left, introduces Nitro — the centre’s new ‘buddy dog,’ joined by his human Kadin Pochynok.
Nitro will join fellow buddy dogs Captain, Moose and Zeppelin in helping kids work through trauma of all types. The dogs are specially trained for two years to manage the responsibility, which puts them in high demand.
Complementing the work of the four-legged superheroes are 25 dedicated staff and 110 volunteers. Together, the team helps kids who are survivors of all types of harm, ranging from physical, sexual and emotional abuse to online crimes, sextortion, neglect and being witness to a crime.
The Zebra Centre has been in operation since 2002. It was the first facility of its kind in Canada and remains the busiest.
Last year the buddy dog team was called to duty 1,136 times during a record-setting year in which 4,418 children sought a variety of the Zebra Centre’s services — almost triple the demand of a decade ago.
Overall in 2025, the centre assisted in 1,704 forensic interviews, provided mental health supports to 716 children, prepared kids for 397 court cases and were present to support kids as they took the stand in 281 of those.
Stuebing attributed the increase to more people coming forward to report abuse. Knowing a child is in danger and not reporting it is illegal in Canada.
“I think people are starting to recognize harm, they’re starting to realize there is help available,” she said. “We’re also seeing a growth in complex cases such as online exploitation, where there might be one suspect but there could be up to 100 children linked to that file.
“We have real focus on educating kids on everything from consent to online safety.”
She noted that childhood has always been a nightmare for some, but in the modern era of social media and artificial intelligence those problems are amplified. She added more often than not kids know their abusers. She estimated approximately half the cases the centre handles are sexual abuse cases.
Anyone who would like to help can donate new toys, clothing, or anything kids aged 3 to 18 could use. Cash donations are always welcome, Stuebing said.
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