Animal group takes ‘paws’ for seniors

Seniors looking for a little companionship will be happy to know a new option has opened up.
Friends of Animals, Fort’s local animal welfare group, has created a new adoption program geared directly at seniors.
“We just thought there are seniors in the community who are living alone,” explained member Mike Pearson.
“We wanted to see if we could assist them in some way,” he continued.
The program offers special assistance to seniors who would like to adopt a pet but may be worried about costs, upkeep or what will happen to the pet if they pass on.
The idea is that Friends of Animals can make arrangements to help with the animal’s care and well-being. For example, they could arrange to do things like change the pet’s litter box, assist with the cost of food for the animal and to take the animal back into their care if the owner passes on.
Pearson described it as, “Support, so they’re not stuck. We could assist in a certain way.”
The program is new but as of last Monday, Friends of Animals had already received one call of interest following the first advertisement of the program on Friday.
Currently, Friends has 10 cats available for adoption and five dogs.
In the past three years, Friends of Animals has adopted out more han 300 pets to happy homes.
“You’ve got a senior sitting by themselves all day, there are a lot of seniors that are alone. It would be nice if these people could have a pet,” Pearson asserted.
Describing how there are many seniors in the Fort community, Pearson hopes the new adoption service will aid the community.
Judy Sauve is president of Therapeutic Paws of Canada, a therapy animal association with volunteers all over Canada.
She has been providing pet therapy in nursing homes, residences and health care facilities for over 10 years and said the positive wellness effects of these types of programs have long been recognized by the medical profession.
“We know recovery from surgery is quoted as being accelerated when there is continued contact with a pet. The petting and stroking of a pet helps to calm the most agitated resident. I am frequently told by nurses and doctors that they know when the therapy dogs have been in to visit. There is a sense of well being from those that the dogs visited,” she explained.
“The residents appear happier, more content and are more communicative. Conversations are stimulated about pets they once owned. It’s difficult to know who gets the greatest pleasure from a therapy pet visit—the resident, the pet or their handler. The interaction between the resident and the therapy pet is instant and magical,” she continued.
With the effects of pets on the ill, aging or isolated, being touted as positive, it is a worthwhile venture for seniors to consider bringing an animal into their lives.
And though Sauve’s experiences speak only to pet visitation programs, perhaps these positive effects are true to having an animal in the home.