Therapy Animals

[Melody]

Animal-assisted and pet therapy are therapeutic methods which use animals trained to provide affection and comfort to people. They can be outside programs or visiting programs, including hospitals, retirement or nursing homes, mental health facilities and schools. More information about animal therapy programs in general can be found here (http://www.animalhealthcare.ca/kidscontent.asp?id=5).

I love these programs - I think the whole concept is brilliant. I found one inadvertently while searching today, so I thought I'd pass along a few links. If you know of other local programs, by all means add the information to the thread. Give them a call if you want to get involved or if you would like to set something up for a facility. If you're pet isn't Ms./Mr. Personality Plus, they can always use donations.

Therapeutic Paws of Canada (http://www.tpoc.ca/)
National Service Dogs (http://www.nsd.on.ca/)
St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Services (http://www.sja.ca/ONTARIO/COMMUNITYSERVICES/PROGRAMS/Pages/TherapyDogServices.aspx)
Pacific Animal Therapy Society (http://members.shaw.ca/patspets/)
Pacific Riding for the Disabled (http://www.prda.ca)
Lanark County Therapeutic Riding Program (http://www.therapeuticriding.ca)
Little Bits Therapeutic Riding Assoc. (http://www.littlebits.ca)
Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta (http://paws.shopalberta.com/)
Pet Access League Society (http://www.palspets.com/)
Pets and Friends (http://petsandfriends.org/)
Therapy Dogs of St. John's NF (http://ca.geocities.com/doggy.west@nl.rogers.com/)