The Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office is marking the retirement of two key staff members.
Berrien County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Taylor and canine advocate Mr. Weeber will both officially step down Friday.
Taylor tells us Mr. Weeber was added to the prosecutor’s office ten years ago to help children who are anxious about testifying in criminal cases. K9 Weeber is good at his job.
“He just loves kids and kids love him,” Taylor said. “He’s just a calming influence on them, both in court and while they’re waiting to testify. He relieves a lot of their anxiety.”
Weeber originally trained as a seeing eye dog but never completed that training due to medical issues.
Taylor says Mr. Weeber has helped more than 1,000 kids since coming on board at the prosecutor’s office in 2014. The kids spend their whole day with him, either at the prosecutor’s office or at the courthouse. Taylor says Mr. Weeber can tell when someone’s upset and will always move to comfort them.
Mr. Weeber lives with Taylor, so the two will be enjoying their retirement together.
“I’ve been here nearly 28 years, so it’s a little weird to be retiring in general. I meant to retire at the same time as the dog, but I was kind of trying to do it on purpose so we could both kind of leave at the same time.”
Taylor plans to continue working for the prosecutor’s office part-time to help train young attorneys. He says the 11-year-old Mr. Weeber has slowed down over the years, often preferring sleep to play, so it’s the right time for the faithful K9 to hang up his bandana.
A retirement party was held for both Mr. Weeber and Taylor at the prosecutor’s office this week.
