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CASSOPOLIS — Around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, residents at the Cass County Medical Care Facility began to gather near their windows, eagerly anticipating the day’s entertainment. Soon, a snout would appear at their window sills, and residents were greeted by a special guest.

Thursday afternoon, Cass County Sheriff’s Office K9 Faust and Nellie the Bloodhound, along with handlers Deputies Dave Nevins and Tiffany Graves, visited the Cass County Medical Care Facility in the hopes of bringing a smile to its residents’ faces. While it is not uncommon for the sheriff’s office to host community presentations with the K9s, Thursday’s visit to the government-run nursing home looked a little different due to strict restrictions on visitors in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of going inside to interact with residents, the dogs and their handlers visited outside residents’ windows, waving and holding up signs.

“With everyone being shut in, and with no one being allowed to come into medical care, we thought we could do something a little bit different for [the residents],” said Cass County Sheriff Richard Behnke.

Faust’s handler, Deputy Nevins, initially came up with the idea to visit Cass County Medical Care Facility after seeing other sheriff’s offices around the country do window visits at hospitals and nursing homes.

“We are going from window to window, saying hi to the residents, giving them the thumbs up and showing off the dogs for a little bit,” Nevins said. “We want to show some hope and appreciation that we know they are locked in here, and we feel for them.”

Deputy Graves and Nellie the Bloodhound are regular visitors to the Cass County Medical Care Facility. As the pair has not been able to visit since the pandemic hit, Graves said she was excited about the chance to see the residents again — even if it was through a pane of glass.

“I think it is really important that they know we care about them,” she said.

Thursday afternoon, Diana Masters, director of activities at Cass County Medical Care Facility, said the residents had spent the entire day anticipating the visit from Foust and Nellie.

“They’ve been really excited to see the dogs,” she said. “It really brightens their day.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Cass County Medical Care Facility has been closed to visitors in order to protect its senior residents, who are considered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be at a high risk of serious illness should they contract the virus.

Though facility staff has taken other steps to allow residents to connect with their loved ones, such as FaceTime calls and enabling family members to visit through closed windows, the change has been hard for the nursing home’s residents, Masters said. In light of the hardship residents are facing, Masters said presentations like the one from the Cass County Sheriff’s Office are more appreciated now than ever before.

“It gives them a highlight of the day to look forward to,” she said. “We try to give them a variety of things to do.”

Masters said other window visits with area agencies are in the works, including an organization that will be bringing ponies to visit with residents this weekend. Until then, Sheriff Behnke said he was glad that his office and the K9s were able to bring some happiness to those at Cass County Medical Care Facility.

“There are certain people who can’t be out, and they are not getting their normal family visits, so this is just an opportunity for us to brighten their day a little bit and just have some fun,” he said. “We are all in this together.”