When you think of a therapy animal, what comes to mind? Is it an adorable golden retriever seeming to smile at a client, or perhaps you imagine a horse at an equine-assisted facility? The work of these more common therapy animal species is spectacular, but there are other species in…
Not all therapy animals are dogs, and prospective handlers who adopt other species may need specialized information on how to prepare their pets for therapy animal work. For this guest post we welcome Kristin Woodbury with House Rabbit Society and a previous therapy rabbit handler, who offers advice on rabbit…
Have you ever seen one of those “who rescued who?” bumper stickers and smiled, feeling an immediate sense of relatability with the idea that humans tend to benefit so deeply by sharing our lives with pets? General research on pet ownership and the human-animal bond supports this notion, suggesting that…
Pet Partners is pleased to present this guest post from one of our therapy cat teams. Stitches and her handler Nikki Christopher became a Pet Partners team in 2017 and Stitches gained attention for her work at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. We asked Stitches (with Nikki's assistance) to share some…
Pet Partners, formerly the Delta Society, is renowned today as the gold standard in the field of animal-assisted interventions. This has a lot to do with the work of our amazing founders. Settle in, grab some pupcorn, and learn how we have grown from one veterinarian’s idea to an organization…
I woke up this morning thinking it was any other day. I ate my breakfast, played with my beloved tennis ball collection, and laid in my favorite sunny spot for a while before my human came over with my brush. Wait a second—I got a bath last night, and now…
Pet Partners is committed to improving human health and well-being through the human-animal bond, and this includes finding new ways to bring the effects of therapy animals to people who can benefit. Walk With Me is a special initiative within the Pet Partners Therapy Animal Program for teams who would…
The positive effects of the human-animal bond are undeniable, but how exactly do they come about? While research and anecdotes have demonstrated that animal-assisted interventions are effective, Andrea M. Beetz delves into theories about why and how they are effective in her 2017 article, “Theories and possible processes of animal…
With the sudden impact of COVID-19 on the therapy animal community, Pet Partners found ourselves in a challenging situation: the love of animals was needed more than ever, but the ability to bring therapy animals to people was largely cut off. We immediately began considering the countless ways in which…
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We began 2021 with an air of hope, as the development of COVID-19 vaccines offered the possibility of being able to return to more typical activities, including in-person therapy animal visits and the important work that supports those visits. Unfortunately, the rise of new COVID-19 variants and continuing high levels…
One Health Day is observed each year on November 3. The effects of COVID-19 have made especially clear how important the concept of One Health is to protecting the health of everyone. We want to revisit our blog post about One Health Day, because the concepts of One Health remain…
