Labrador retires after decade with FBI helping tragedy victims

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Gio’s handler, Melody, shared words of advice for the canine’s successors: “Take every opportunity you have to nap.”

After 10 years, more than 100 assignments and thousands of victims helped, a four-legged member of the FBI is hanging up his leash.

Gio, a 12-year-old English Labrador, is retiring from the FBI’s Crisis Response Canine Program on Dec. 31, the agency announced earlier this month.

Since joining the force in 2015, Gio has supported more than 4,000 people impacted by mass shootings and other tragedies through his role with the FBI’s Victim Services Division.

While animal therapy is used in a variety of settings as a proven mental health support system, the FBI did not widely adopt the practice of using dogs for victims before a pilot program launched about a decade ago. That’s when Gio and Wally, another canine program member, came along.

They became the first two members of the FBI’s Crisis Response Canine Program. Because of their success, the agency added two more members to the program earlier this year: golden Labradors, Taz and Peg.

“They help us as investigators to engage with victims in a way where victims feel calm and confident and can tell us their stories and really sensitive situations,” FBI Victim Services Assistant Director Shohini Sinha said in a statement.

As for those who come after him, Gio’s handler Melody has some words of wisdom for the next canine members.

“I think Gio would tell them to take every opportunity you have to nap because you never know when the next deployment will be. When that happens, you’re going to be expected to hit the ground running, and there will be super long days. And, I think he would remind them that they’re doing very important work and that they will positively impact many folks along the way,” she said.

Finding comfort in tragedy

While K-9s can be used to support law enforcement officers in many situations, Gio’s role was specifically to provide comfort for victims of crimes, especially in mass violence events.

For example, Gio and his colleague Wally responded to the December 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, their first deployment to a mass violence incident.

Later, they were also deployed to the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, in June 2016; the Las Vegas music festival shooting in October 2017 and the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting in May 2022.

Gio also made history as the agency’s first dog to be permitted in federal court during testimony. He sat with a young woman who was testifying against her assailant, Sinha said.

Officials didn’t immediately provide more information on the case. But Gio’s handler, Melody, and others recalled that – despite the victim’s overwhelming emotion – the pup would put his head in her lap when she became especially anxious.

“Gio pressed himself against her legs while she was talking, to help comfort and ground her,” Sinha said. “And as the victim witness continued to speak, Melody could see that she was becoming more confident. She was able to speak more clearly, more loudly.”

A paw-fect retirement gift

Gio’s human handler also works for the FBI’s Victim Services Division.

“When I first met him, he was with a bunch of school-aged kids. The kids were surrounding him, and he was the most chill 2-year-old lab that I’d ever seen. Ever. He just had a really sweet temperament. And we connected immediately,” Melody said in a statement.

Gio and Melody have worked side-by-side for the last ten years, a role that she called “the highlight of my career.”

“My role really is to be invisible behind that leash and let him do his thing—and that’s to mitigate the stress and anxiety of the most vulnerable victims that we serve,” she said.

They were recognized at a ceremony at FBI headquarters on Dec. 9, where FBI Assistant Deputy Director Chad Yarbough gave Gio the “thanks of a grateful workforce and nation.”

But it’s not the end of Gio and Melody’s partnership.

After Gio’s retirement, Melody will adopt him and give him a forever home.

Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com.