Local Lion, dog assist in San Diego flooding

Province resident and Maricopa Lions Club member Cherie Mossing, 71, and her therapy dog Lexi are some of Maricopa’s top-notch fur-st responders.

The therapy dog team was deployed to San Diego recently for emergency assistance following weeks of intense rain and flooding, which displaced thousands across California.

It’s the farthest the Maricopa Lions have ever gone to do service — before, no one ventured farther than Gila Bend.

Mossing, Lexi and another team from Paradise Valley spent three days working the crowds at shelters and incident command centers to provide a small bit of respite from the stress.

For Mossing, it’s part of her calling.

“That’s part of what Lions do,” she said. “Our motto is we serve, so in every project we do, we serve our fellow man. That’s who we are.”

A once-in-a-millennium event

Several massive storms slammed California over the last few weeks, inundating the state with months’ worth of rain in just a matter of days. It also brought floods, mudslides and hurricane-force winds to cities up and down the coast.

At least one weather station recorded a foot of rain in a 24-hour period, which meteorologists referred to as a once-in-a-millennium rainfall event.

The January storms alone damaged more than 800 homes, closed dozens of roads and displaced more than 600 San Diego County residents, according to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

Meet Lexi

Lexi, an 8-year-old golden doodle, has been working as a certified therapy dog for six years. She provides gentle comfort, affection or distraction for people facing a crisis or who are experiencing distress.

“We really focus on the mental health of the people we’re meeting,” Mossing said. “There can be a lot of people crying, a lot of people depressed.”

Encountering these scenarios is nothing new for Mossing. She previously worked as a nurse in hospital trauma centers for several decades before retiring. But she couldn’t find herself staying away from providing relief for long.

“Being able to give them a little bit of respite from their struggles, it’s satisfying and rewarding,” she said.

Opportunities to help

Mossing said the Maricopa Lions Club currently has three therapy dogs and one crisis response dog. However, they are seeking two more therapy dogs.

While volunteer work occasionally means embarking on deployments to emergencies in and out of state, they also provide comfort for children in schools and libraries, as well as for first responders.

Teams must be members of the Lions Club, have an obedience-trained dog and pass a background check. Interested parties can contact Mossing at 602-828-8312.