‘Tibet: The Story of Florida’s First Courthouse Facility Dog’ Set to Screen at the Bonita Springs International Film Festival

TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 12, 2018) The Voices for Children and Guardian ad Litem Film Tibet: The Story of Florida’s First Courthouse Facility Dog has been accepted to screen at the 3rd Annual Bonita Springs International Film Festival.

This is the sixth film festival screening for the “Dogumentary” which tells the story of how Guardian ad Litem (GAL) volunteers, former Voices for Children of Tampa Bay Director Betsy Smith and GAL volunteer Brenda Kocher were able to bring the Courthouse Facility Dog Program and the film’s star, Tibet, to the Hillsborough County 13th Judicial Circuit in Tampa, Florida.

Tibet provides emotional support for the abused, neglected and abandoned children who are facing the dependency court system during stressful and difficult proceedings.

Tibet was the first facility dog staffed in the state. Thousands of children have to testify without any support.

With the success of the program which began in 2014, they hope to expand and bring more facility dogs to courthouses around the state.

The silver and gold Telly-award winning documentary “Tibet: The Story of Florida’s First Courthouse Facility Dog” was produced by HCP Associate’s production company, Gulf Atlantic Films (www.gafilms.com).

The 3rd annual Bonita Springs International Film Festival runs January 25-28, 2018, at the Center for the Performing Arts in Bonita Springs.  For more information visit http://artcenterbonita.org/biff/.

To learn more about Voices for Children and Guardian ad Litem, please visit www.vfcgal.org or call (813) 275-9300.