We like to post about therapy animals - the healing and helping nature of animals is widely appreciated. Here's an interesting new use for therapy dogs. Tensions in courts can obviously be high, so some attorneys are bringing in loving pups to ease things a little.

The young woman in Seattle was having second thoughts about testifying in the 2008 trial of a man accused of abducting and raping her. "That's when we brought Ellie on board," said King County senior prosecuting attorney Ellen O'Neill Stephens said.

Ellie isn't a counselor or a psychiatrist, she's an 8-year-old Labrador retriever. The King County prosecutor's office uses Ellie to help calm victims and witnesses of violent attacks.

Dogs help provide support in courtrooms