What is Pet Therapy?
Pet Therapy is the use of animals to assist with medical and psychological care or support of humans.
Examples:
• Use of dogs in physical therapy exercises, such as through grooming.
• Use of animals to calm psychiatric patients or trauma victims.
• Use of animals to build confidence in children with learning disabilities.
Pet Assisted Activities are the use of animals in activities designed to enhance the emotional wellbeing of people.
Examples:
• Visiting nursing homes/medical facilities
• Reading with animal programs.
Therapy animals have access only to those places that welcome them. Individual facilities have separate requirements for visiting animals, if they allow them at all.
What services do we offer?
What Services do we offer-
We offer FREE visitations and animal assisted activities to nursing care, health care, educational and other facilities. These visitations are focused on providing companionship, enjoyment, and entertainment, through teamwork between our handlers and their animals.
What is the fee for our services?
We are a completely volunteer organization, and our services are always free-although we do accept donations to help with our costs.
What Training/Credentials do our teams have?
All of our humans complete a criminal background check. We also currently require COVID vaccinations.
Our animals are required to have routine veterinary exams, be current on rabies and other vaccinations (as species appropriate).
Each or our teams-consisting of 1 to 2 humans and 1 animal-are tested for comfort in a variety of situations, calmness around people of various ages and physical status, other animals and chaotic environments. Each handler and animal are tested and certified as a team.
We do NOT require the Canine Good Citizen certification. Our test utilizes some elements similiar to the CGC, but differs in its focus on human and other dog interaction, and not obedieince.
Each of our certified teams are covered by our group liability insurance-in the unlikely case of injury to those we visit or damage to property.
Each team is required to undergo a yearly observation visit/recertification.
What type of animals do you have?
We currently have dogs of different breeds, cats and birds in our teams. To meet each of our teams visit our Meet our Teams Page
How do I request a pet visit/pet assisted activity?
Contact Marie directly at [email protected] or call her at 303-378-5987
Discuss your desire with one of our teams during a visit.
How do I volunteer?
Visit our Requirements Page, complete and return a new volunteer application and return the application to us. (Email is preferred).
Complete a background check-link will be sent when your application is received.
Schedule and successfully complete a therapy team evaluation and required observation visit.
Pay the annual membership fee of $50 (which covers our insurance)
Welcome to the team and start visiting.
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