Courthouse K9 Fortune

Since 2016, children and victims of crime engaged in the criminal justice process received assistance from Courthouse Facility Dog, Fortune. Courthouse Facility Dogs assist crime victims and witnesses during stressful stages of legal proceedings such as child forensic interviews and trials, and are handled by professionals in these fields.

Born in 2015 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and trained by Assistance Dogs of the West, Fortune is a Great American Breed who performed over 90 cues. Fortune was present at hundreds of Child Abuse Response Team (CART) interviews and regularly sat with witnesses testifying at trial in the courtroom. Fortune was deployed to casualty and trauma incidents including the Las Vegas mass shooting in October of 2017 and the Porterville Library fire in 2020. Fortune served the people of Tulare County and beyond until his passing in November 2024.

Fortune is named after US Army Sergeant Maurice Fortune, who was killed in action in Iraq in 2004.