The Growing Need for Therapy Animals
If you are the owner of a therapy animal, you might be familiar with Pet Partners. They are known as a leader in the therapy animal field who register volunteer teams to make visits to assisted living facilities, schools, libraries and more. Pet Partners boasts more than three million visits a year. However, the need for therapy animals and teams appears to be growing.
The impacts of the covid-19 pandemic along with the resulting economic uncertainty and social discord has contributed to the greater need for therapy animals to provide comfort and solace to children and adults.
A therapy dog may be the first type of animal that comes to mind when you think of a therapy animal. However, Pet Partners will consider many more animal species, including cats, horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mini pigs, birds, llamas and alpacas. All these species are eligible for registration through the Pet Partners Therapy Animal Program.
"An animal's temperament is what determines whether they might make a good registered therapy animal with Pet Partners, not any specific species or breed," said Pet Partners President and CEO C. Annie Peters noted in a press release. "Many of our therapy animals are rescue pets, and they assist everyone from veterans with PTSD, seniors living with Alzheimer's, students with literacy challenges, patients in recovery, and people with intellectual disabilities. We couldn't be more grateful for all that our volunteer therapy teams do for people in need around the world."
Pet Partners is also specifically seeking more cats and handlers to become registered volunteer teams. In partnership with Cat Person, a cat care brand, a research study found that cats can provide a special form of comfort that dogs cannot. Special incentives are also being offered for new cat teams.
Make the connection at www.petpartners.org
Source: Pet Partners Press Release