Tuesday April 30th is National Therapy Animal Day, introduced by Pet Partners which is a national non-profit and leader in the education and promotion of the benefits of animal-assisted therapy. I have been a Pet Partners volunteer alongside my Miniature Schnauzer, Elsa, since 2009.
My path to this work started in 2008 while doing some pro-bono marketing work for a woman leading a program focused on helping kids improve their reading skills by reading to dogs. Research now confirms this correlation, finding that kids build more confidence in their reading when having the calming presence of an animal near them and can read without the worry of being judged or corrected.
My first volunteer position as a Pet Partners team was with a hospice facility. We visited for 2 hours once a week with patients and their family members as well as staff. Most patients passed within a week, so we rarely saw them a second time. While many assume this work may be draining, for me it was just the opposite. There was tremendous compassion and gratitude within the walls of this facility that was energizing. All the noise of daily routines had been stripped of importance upon entering this facility and we were all left with what mattered most at end of life, which created space for a deep appreciation for connection, kindness and raw emotion.
For the past five years, Elsa and I have been volunteering at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. Thanks to the Disney movie Frozen, which came out in 2013, Elsa is especially appreciated at this location. Seeing kids and their families in pain is difficult, yet offering positive energy during difficult times reminds me why this work is so important. Stories abound. For instance, the doors of an elevator opened one day and a woman walked out and took one look at Elsa and asked if she could hold her. She began to weep and said to me “You don’t have any idea how much I needed this right now.” Recently, a parent stopped me while walking through the hospital to share that when her son had been admitted to the hospital for the first time three years prior, their visit with Elsa had been something they have never forgotten. Another parent shared that upon leaving the hospital, the family had purchased a stuffed animal that looked like Elsa that her daughter cherishes. Staff have thanked us for providing a distraction and calming presence when children are feeling particularly distraught.
There is ever-expanding research on the benefits of animal-assisted therapy. It speaks to both the impact on those being visited by the animals as well as the human volunteer at the other end of the leash. Volunteering allows us to connect to something greater than ourselves, which is a primary tenet for well-being. My role as a volunteer, particularly in these last 10 years, has given me an expanded perspective on life and has allowed me to evolve into a more compassionate and intentional human. I wish I knew how many thousands of people Elsa has touched over our nearly 10 years of volunteering. What I do know is that volunteering has played a significant role in my emotional well-being and has allowed me to connect with people in a way that is not always readily available in our day-to-day lives. It creates an opportunity for both personal growth and self-care.
If you are considering volunteering with your animal, please visit https://petpartners.org/volunteer/. If you are in Minnesota, North Star Therapy Animals is a great local resource as well https://northstartherapyanimals.org/. And if you are in a position to give back through financial means, please consider donating to either or both organizations to support the continued work of animal-assisted therapy.