Pets as Therapy

Many people lose contact with cats and dogs when they move into a care home or go into hospital or other institutional setting for whatever reason. Contact with animals is known to have many health benefits and research is increasingly showing these benefits. Pets as Therapy is an organisation which matches up people and organisations with animals assessed as having suitable temperaments to provide a taster of that contact once more. They provide insureance for visits and also offer more specific therapeutic input for eg. people with phobias of cats or dogs.



I visit a care home in Bodmin, approximately once a fortnight. Sky, our border collie, loves these visits, she knows where we are going and gets very excited as we approach. The residents love to see her, many talk of pets they have lived with, some get a little exercise playing with Sky, and the smiles and laughter increase through the visit. If anyone is fearful of her, we just pass by gently. The staff love her too, and I enjoy the visits. So, smiles and joy all round. and, as I am a volunteer, I do not have to fill in any forms, go to meetings or supervise anyone, as I used to when i worked in the NHS!



Link to PAT - www.petsastherapy.org