Lending a Healing Paw

Melissa Hawkins, DVM

Working in the veterinary field, we experience the privilege of serving people and their pets every day.  But what about the animals that serve us?  Leader dogs for the blind,  police and military dogs, therapy animals, seizure detection dogs, and therapeutic riding horses are just some of the ways animals are involved in helping people on a daily basis.  I recently had the opportunity to experience the healing powers of an animal in action first hand!

Primo is a specially trained Canine Companion For Independence!  Transported by his handler Deanna, he works as a facilities dog for the St. Vincent Hospital system in Indianapolis.  He visits human patients in their rooms to provide companionship, love, and a healing paw when needed.  He is only one of hundreds of dogs intensely trained by the 501c3 organization CCI. Canine Companions For Independence provides highly-trained assitance dogs for children and adults with disabilities, free of charge.  They also train facilities dogs, like Primo, to act as therapy dogs in hospital and clinic settings.  

 

Visiting with Grandpa Hawkins

Do animals really help the healing process, you ask?  As anyone with a pet knows, the resounding answer to this question is YES!  In fact, over the past 10 to 15 years, multiple clinical studies have been published that definitively show the benefits of animal-assited therapy.  Including animals (usually dogs) as part of therapy has been shown to improve blood pressure, anxiety, respiratory rate, and general happiness in patient populations.  It has also been shown to improve the work environment for medical staff, who associate the animal assistants with making their jobs happier and more interesting.  

The official CCI working dog vest

As a 501c3 organization, CCI depends on volunteers and donations to continue their canine training and placement programs.  To help keep these important companions healthy, Noah's Animal Hospitals provides annual examinations, vaccines, heartworm testing and fecal testing at no charge for CCI dogs.  You can check out their website for more information about helping out!  They will be having a fundraiser in Indianapolis on October 20th at the Monon Center as well, complete with a dog walk, silent auction, and costume contests!  Check it out!

Primo and his handler, Deanna. What a great team!