FORT COLLINS — A therapy dog who comforted victims and relatives during the Colorado theater shooting trial is getting some TLC himself after developing severe neck pain.

Chester, a 9-year-old Labrador retriever, is being treated at home with antibiotics after a short stay at Colorado State University’s veterinary hospital earlier this month. Doctors believe a spinal infection is to blame and hope the antibiotics will solve the problem, avoiding surgery.

CSU says it’s also possible the source of the pain is cancer or a foreign object that may have migrated to the dog’s spine. Chester is expected to be back at the hospital in a month for a checkup on how the drug therapy is working.

Chester’s owner, Kateri Nelson, says the dog developed the pain five days after sentencing in the case.