By STEVE JENSE
Despite the recent beating and stabbing of four nuns in Waterville, Maine, local nuns said they feel safe here in Utah.
A nun at the Carmelite Monastery in Holladay, who preferred to remain anonymous, said lights and dogs provide the security for their monastery.
“We have detective lights, and dogs that make noise,” the nun said. “And prowlers don’t like that.”
The nun does not remember ever feeling threatened at the Carmelite Monastery, but said the monastery took a step up in their safety precautions a few years ago after hearing of another incident similar to Saturday’s tragedy.
A man broke into a monastery and beat up a couple of sisters. This news caused the Carmelite sisters to get a dog, the nun said.
The nun said their six dogs — German shepherds and black Labrador retrievers — are the key to the monastery’s safety.
“The dogs are a big help,” she said. “They could be ferocious if somebody were here that should not be.”
Besides dogs and safety lights, the nun couldn’t think of any other safety precautions taken by the monastery.
“We used to have a detective panic button, but I think we disconnected that,” she said.
The Carmelite sisters received news of the Saturday evening murders during the monastery’s Monday morning meeting, the nun said.
“It’s unfortunate that it does happen,” she said. “People are on drugs now and they’re not sure what they’re doing.”
