Alfie the Golden Doodle Brings Joy to Indiana Statehouse
INDIANAPOLIS — If you’ve seen a golden doodle roaming the Indiana Statehouse, that’s Alfred, or Alfie for short, and he belongs to Alison Slatter, a Policy Advisor in the State Treasurer’s Office.
“About three days before Christmas in 2022, I found out my husband had six months to live,” Slatter told WIBC. “We still had kids at home, and knowing that was going to be an incredibly hard loss for all of us, we decided, even though my husband didn’t actually like dogs, to go out and get one.”
Slatter says her late husband understood how much the kids needed that comfort, and as one final act of love, he made sure to provide for the dog’s care.
About five months after he passed, Slatter’s mother was in a serious car accident and broke her neck. With her mom recovering at home, they knew a rowdy puppy wouldn’t work, so they brought in trainers to help Alfie learn how to behave.
“He’s now trained well enough to come with me to the Statehouse,” said Slatter. “His role at the Statehouse is putting smiles on people’s faces and keeping my colleagues chill. My colleagues said they wanted a dog in the office, so we gave it a try, and here we are, one year later, and he’s still coming to work with us.”
