David Fratantoni’s Latest Post:
Therapy dogs are one of the most useful tools when it comes to helping people deal with stress and traumatic events in the past. There have been countless articles and papers published talking about how incredible therapy dogs are at helping people, ranging from soldiers who suffer from PTSD to abuse victims, come to terms with past events and move forward in the healing process. As the usefulness of therapy dogs becomes more and more apparent, their use is becoming more common in areas where you wouldn’t expect them. One of these unexpected locations where you can no find therapy dogs (though it also makes total sense when you think about it) is airports. Some airports around the country now have roving teams of therapy dogs that are there to help calm passengers and relieve some of the stress and anxiety that travel frequently causes.
After 9/11, a volunteer interfaith chaplain at Mineta San Jose Airport (SJC) brought her certified therapy dog to help people relax when facing the prospect of returning to the skies. It was a huge success and SJC was the first airport to start a therapy dog program that others have used as inspiration. All of the dogs used across the country have been vetted by Therapy Dogs International to make sure they’re non-aggressive and ok with the sounds and chaos of airports. The dogs and their handlers wander around the airport terminal all 7 days a week and are available to all who would like some comforting before boarding their plane.
As of now, there are 27 airports around the country that have adopted using therapy dogs to console and comfort passengers. The dogs are of all sizes and breed so that there’s one for every type of canine preference. Hilariously enough, cats were also originally used but were quickly dropped. They, surprising no cat owners anywhere, were usually far less affectionate and accepting of strangers and so they were replaced with more friendly animals.
If you’d like to read more, the link is here.
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