An Australian Red Heeler Cattle dog who lost his leg in a cattle herding accident when he was just four months old is now offering comfort to others as a therapy dog.

Pablo, the six-year-old three-legged dog, spends hours every week “looking for people who don’t have a smile on their face,” his owner John Harper told CTV News Toronto.

While Pablo spends a lot of time visiting patients at hospitals and calming stressed-out flyers at Billy Bishop Airport, one of the more emotional parts of his job as a therapy dog is to help soothe the souls of those impacted by tragedy.

Harper said that both he and Pablo were on hand to offer comfort to victims and members of the community who were struggling after the Danforth mass shooting and the van attack in North York.

“There were people who were terribly distressed,” Harper said. “Pablo, like all of the dogs, just helped them. They got down and hugged him and just cried.”

Harper, 74, has spent 10 years volunteering on a suicide prevention hotline with Distress Centres of Toronto. He became a therapy dog evaluator with St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program seven years ago, working with his dog called Shimmer who was recently retired from the program.

Four years ago, he adopted Pablo.

“I didn’t need another therapy dog,” he said. “I met him by sheer chance at an event I was at in Barrie, where the lady had brought him from the rescue group who had saved him from being put down after he lost his leg at four-months-old in a cattle herding accident on a farm.”

“It was love at first sight. He looked at me and I looked at him and I said to the lady ‘I want that dog.’”

Harper said that Pablo “was a natural” and could sense when someone is stressed or feeling lonely or sad.

Pablo makes regular appearances at Michael Garron Hospital. The pup is often seen wandering the halls and snuggling up to patients.

Harper also brings him to Billy Bishop Airport to help calm travellers.

Harper said that many people at the airport can be distressed after leaving loved ones. He said that Pablo once nudged him over to a lady, who started to cry when she pet the dog. She told Harper that she had just left her mother, who was terminally ill, heading to Boston on a flight.

“He has tremendous spirit. He’s a dog that had a very bad day and he recognizes people that are having a very bad day,” Harper said. “He is an inspiration to people who have lost legs or who have had hip or knee problems. He also loves people and is very understandable of people in distress.”

In 2015, St. John Ambulance had 3,3545 therapy dog program volunteer and dog teams.

-With files from CTV News Toronto's Michelle Dube