interviews

mewow cafe - eileen shaffer:

we wanted to reach out to the cat cafe after we visited to answer some questions. we got a response in our email from eileen shaffer. we first asked her about what have she has learned being in the animal care field and helping others with their mental health. she offered us a very detailed message, "i'm not an expert on mental health issues. what i have learned is how a simple cat cafe can make so many people happy. our motto of 'come happy, leave happier' developed as i watched people relax and enjoy themselves 1/2 hour at a time." this was super helpful for us because we knew that the cats were not certified therapy animals but they still helped with mental health. furthermore, eileen explains the positive effects, including how a cat's purr can lower blood pressure and anxiety levels. eileen explains some of her customers' responses to the cats' purr, "we have many special needs people, those with anxiety or depression issues who visit mewow regularly. the cats give love without asking them anything in return." we wanted to find out more about customers who have mental health concerns so we asked eileen if any customers have their life with her. she explains with a few cat jokes, “i've learned that every cat has a distinct purrsonality. there is a purrfect match to every need. anything that gives unconditional love helps people with mental health issues." to help prove our point about the positive effects of animals eileen offers a simple way to look at it, ”is there a pet that is not therapeutic?"additionally, they offer cat meditation and even though we unfortunately did get to do this, it is a fantastic option for others! meditation is very beneficial for our mental state as described in our textbook, it is a "reflective practice in which people attend to current experiences in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner."

kpets - darlene graham:

we also talked with darlene graham who is a volunteer, leader, and on the board for a therapy dog organization; kpets. kpets is a volunteer organization in lancaster, pennsylvania currently with 330 volunteers, 350 dogs, 10 mini horses, cats, 1 rabbit, a couple of ducks, a pig. she told us she has had 3 therapy dog of her own but only two of them are active. she also mentioned about how she got into working with therapy dogs when she took her first dog to obedience classes and was told by the instructor that she was in a good position to pass the requirements for kpets. after looking into it, darlene decided to do it but her dog was not a good fit to be a therapy dog leading her to get another dog. then, we also talked about therapy animals improve mental health. she told us “in so many ways! working with cancer patients, i have learned that having a dog with them when going through chemotherapy, the patients have a smile on their face. dogs motivate, where the dogs help to motivate physical therapy patients to do more (…) and to help patients who need to get walking and i would go and visit a school and i would come in and the student would read to my dog a few times a week (…) it has got to ease stress (…) so i think the possibilities are endless with therapy dogs whether its formal (with a therapist) or informal way.”this has really helped us through our research to get a real world perspective on how therapy animals are impactful. she also told us about her most memorable experience that she had with one of her dogs, petey. she explained, “so i was in the infusion area in lancaster general hospital (...) and i went to a room and it was a young man and petey crawled under his arm (...) then he told my dog that he decided that he wanted to stop his cancer treatments and he talked for the longest time to my dog on why he decided to stop his treatments."after telling us about her most memorable moment, we asked about what she had learned after being the animal care field where she said "(...) but i learned that the simplest thing can sometimes be the most important thing. like the simplest thing of taking a dog to a senior facility or going into schools can be the best thing (...)"overall we had a great conversation with her and learned so much about kpets and therapy animals!

nor'wester therapy dogs - cathy larrick and debbie glessner:

we discovered the organization nor'wester therapy dogs, founded by co-directors wendi huttner and debbie huttner in 2007. we contacted debbie glessner and volunteer cathy larrick. cathy has two therapy dogs, brandon and layla and deb has one therapy dog, heidi. debbie explained how therapy dogs improve mental health, “i believe that therapy animals are a vehicle by which mental health can be addressed by the individual and/or by a mental health professional. we already know that therapy dogs/animals lower stress and anxiety, but the actual improvement of mental health comes from intervention with a therapy animal by one’s side.” cathy described for us her most memorable work was when she worked with specialized learning and neurologically impaired children where they got to interact with her dog brandon. in addition, cathy also shared her thoughts on who she feels are the best fit for therapy dogs, where she said “i know through the teachers that i work with that the children benefit greatly from the days they spend with therapy dogs. the kids open up.” we also asked debbie if she had any experience with teenagers who had anxiety or mental illness. she mentions that she worked in a special education class in a middle school where one student has gender identity issues and extreme anger. but, when her therapy dog was visiting, the student would begin to smile and relax and the teacher said that the dog had a big effect on her. debbie also mentioned, “we have done work with emotional support classes, and the therapy dogs are very effective thereby reducing stress and anxiety.”

ivy hill - megan hance:

after volunteering at ivy hill therapeutic equestrian center in 2019, we knew that we wanted to reach back out to ivy hill to answer some of our questions and megan hance got back to us. megan began working at ivy hill since she was in third grade and has worked every position from barn staff to program manager. our first question for her was how do animals improve mental health. she replied with, "builds emotional well being, increases social awareness and social skills, helps regulate impulse control responses, builds confidence, builds trust, helps show empathy, develops problem solving skills." throughout our research, with various interviews and looking into it ourselves, everyone seems to agree that therapy animals help to improve mental health is so many important ways. she also told us that she feels that individuals with physical disabilities, emotional disabilities, age related challenges are the best fit for equine therapy. megan also described for us a time when her animal helped her in a difficult time. she told us, "my horse was my outlet when i was first certified. i had test anxiety around standardized tests and he would allow me to sit and listen and not judge. he was always so well behaved on days when i needed the support and then on other days he would pull his stunts of stopping in front of fences etc. he always knew when i needed a "safe" ride." the last question we asked was for her to clear up any miss information about therapy animals. she mentioned how it people think it us thought to only be for kids but now more people with age related disabilities have joined. which have lead to created programs that are ground work only which also have benefits for those who can't or don't wish to ride but provide the same benefits.

elena austin:

we also decided to contact with elena austin, who had a therapy dog murray. murray has volunteered at hands holding hearts bereavement camp and has had some truly inspiring stories. we began our interview with how her therapy dog has helped her in a difficult time. she provided us with this statement, “everyday no matter what is going on in the world. they just change your whole day. he has helped me through the loss of family members. he was just a rock for me and i think that he helps other people make him special." we also asked about what should people know before getting a therapy dog. she mentioned being consistent with training to get them certified and doing something special after going to visits since dogs take on our feelings to help them decompress. our last question was for her to clear up so misinformation that she has heard about therapy animals and she said that it doesn't matter the kind of dog, any dog has the potential to be a therapy dog. she also mentioned "there is a lot of training to be a therapy animal but that is training that you should be doing anyway (...) it makes your and your dog's life so much easier for routines."elena also shared one of her most memorable experiences was helping at the camp. when we asked others who were also at the camp they decided on one story about murray's amazing duties. according to hands holding hearts president, amy keiper-shaw, it was when they had a similar situation to one in the textbook. the textbook states a case about a young boy's fear of rabbits and how his therapist helps him, "jones moved the rabbit closer and closer. within two months, peter was holding the rabbit in his lap, even stroking it while he ate. his fear of rabbits and other furry objects had disappeared." while the camp only lasted about a week this same situation happened. murray was there to comfort the children but unfortunately a young boy had a fear of dogs. when he saw how the other children in his same position, losing a loved one, were so happy with the dog he wanted to join. slowly but surely he did become close to murray and his fear practically vanished.he was sitting with murray, taking him on walks, and petting him as if he never had a fear.

carol mccoy:

carol is also another volunteer we came in contact with through hands holding hearts. we wanted to interview her a bit about her goats, ducks, chickens, and her certified therapy dog, jax. first we wanted to know how many therapy animals she has had and to learn a bit about what they exactly did. carol has had around 5 therapy dogs in her lifetime, these animals visited "doylestown hospital primarily and some nursing homes."through their journeys they started to take a liking to other places too such as libraries and elementary schools to cater more to children. carol has had many memorable experiences and we asked her to share some with us. carol's first story was about her trip to the hospital with her old dogs jake and lily. she explains,"there was a person there who was quadriplegic and laying flat and they were ok with me putting (...) lily on the guys chest and stomach, and she just layed down, and i saw the person's eyes light up, and it’s little things like that, that make me feel really good, you know because they haven’t been around stuff like that". the first story really helped us to understand how animals can change a person's livelihood. jax, her current dog, also does special parkour as a form of therapy which she shared an incredible story,"there is a little boy that is mute (...) the teacher explained to me that he speaks at home all the time. but the minute he got into school he won’t speak, and i don’t know if some trauma happened or what but they've been trying to help him at school and the guidance counselor thought that seeing jax might help, (...) he got so excited with jax, and especially doing the parkour, (...) we had two teachers and the one boy, and he was standing because he didn’t feel comfortable sitting on the floor, then jack went and jumped over the teachers' legs, then over the little boys legs, around the boy, and then over another person’s legs, and he giggled, he just giggled so hard, and i don’t know how much he giggles at school but he had such a smile on his face, and if I could try to help him in that respect, the teacher was really glad."we found this story very special and felt like it was important to share in order to understand the power that animals have on our mental health. continuing, we wanted to know who is best fit for therapy animal treatment. carol explained to us that,"you have to be a caring person and patient, and understanding."lastly, we have heard very misleading information about therapy animals and since carol has had so many furry friends we wanted to hear her opinion. she says,“i think that it’s just not all about petting or just that the human animal bond, even with nature is very important, and we’re really losing that connection as time goes on, because we’re so away from animals and being dirty or it’s gonna bite me, not knowing how to connect with animals.”carol helps us push along our objective about the importance of animals and we hope that others can feel the same passion she does for her animals.

as soon as we began this project we knew we wanted to reach out to a company that works with farm animals specifically goats leading us to get in contact with co-director of philly goat project, pallas weber. the company's message is to bring members of the community together to promote wellbeing. this alining with our objective led us to our first question about goats improving mental health and pallas stated, “goats help people ground and connect with nature.”not all therapy animals need to be certified, but just being in the company of an animal can instantly improve one's mood. pallas went on to tell us about the most memorable moment while working with the goats and explained about the all abilities RAMble program they offer:"it is a free monthly, inclusive, and sensory-friendly animal assisted therapy experience for all ages with disabilities and their friends/family (...) witnessing the healing and joy is what makes it all worthwhile. since for most people, the world of animal care and therapy animals can be new, we wanted to know about a piece of advice for people who are curious about this topic. pallas having first hand knowledge and experience said, “volunteer at different nonprofits - each has a unique philosophy and every animal is unique. find the type that resonates with you.”the main focus of the philly goat project is their community events, leading us to wonder if the goats also benefit from the events as well. pallas went on to tell us that “our goats love to interact. they come to us when they are very young and we spend a lot of time with them so that they love people. often our events are a walk which the goats love. they each have their own personality and interact in their own way. they are gentle and win over scared children with their calm.”overall, companies like philly goat project help to inform others about the positive effects of animals for any and everyone.

belinda ash:

we luckily got the chance to interview belinda about her experiences with her therapy dog, james bond. our first question was asking her how she got into therapy animal work and she helped us out with a simple answer, "i got into therapy dogs by going to pennswood village and i had a friend there and she had a therapy dog and one of my neighbors had a therapy dog". seeing her friends and neighbors having such great experiences influenced her to also look into therapy dogs. next, we asked belinda about how she knew james was good fit to become a therapy dog and she explains, "i have had lots of sympathetic dogs, i didn't really think about it before that (...) james was obvious, he could just sit and he didn't mind having his head scratched". james' calm demeanor was the main factor that made him such a good therapy dog. an important question that everyone should be thinking about is what people are best fit for therapy animals?, "somebody who is very sympathetic, kind, likes people, like dogs, well LOVES dogs, they must love dogs", says belinda. belinda and her dog went to obedience, even though he was a calm and caring dog he still had to go through the training. she makes this clear, "it has got to be totally obedient, it has got to be, its very very important. the only thing james did not pass when we went to do our complete obedience thing was that he was told to sit and wait for me for two minutes". she further explains how james did end up passing his test, clearly, but he did struggle not having belinda by his side. this shows that therapy dogs are also still pets and still have the same emotions as other animals do but they are just trained to be professional around others. lastly, we wanted to know about the memorable experiences belinda has had with her dog and she automatically mentioned meeting amy keiper-shaw from hands holding hearts. additionally, she mentions the most rewarding part was, "going to chandler hall was, in the hospice part". she also goes into detail about why she found this experience so rewarding, "a lot of people in the hospice of course are dying, which is very sad, but james just took everything in his own stride". I think that this interview was specifically helpful for us because of all the information belinda provided us with. she is helping james' stories live on and by doing this she is therefore helping everyone on this website better understand the importance of animals on our mental health.

rose bridge farm and sanctuary- kristin sutch:

after our amazing experience with all the goats, sheep, kittens and horses we got the chance to interview the owner, kristin sutch. the first question we asked was about the affect animals have on the mental health of humans. her friend randi started us off by simply saying,"people relax when they pet animals and play with animals."we found this to be extremely true as we were visiting the farm, petting and playing with animals of all kinds. kristin followed up by giving us a scientific explanation,"they also release natural endorphins, especially baby animals."she has even had experience for herself when she had her very own therapy goat,"my doctor did a (...) note so i could take them with me and it kept my blood pressure low (...) and it helped me be more present in the moment and not dwell on negative stuff and just be more positive."hearing more about personal experiences helped us to understand why therapy animals are so important, and even inspired some of us to genuinely want baby goats! we then asked her more about her goats and why they are so special for therapy. kristin explains,"they're like dogs they are really very smart, affectionate, loyal, sweet, but they're also from the care perceptive, very sensitive."this helped further our goal of saying all animals are beneficial for our mental health. while dogs are usually the main animal used we can understand why almost all animals can be a good fit. as she was telling us more about her goats we asked if they also benefited from the visits and we learned some very emotional information,"when everyone leaves at the end of the day they actually cry, yeah so they would prefer people are with them all the time, they get very attached and bonded with people."in our experiences section we talk more about this but it soon became very true for us and certain goats. since information regarding therapy animals seems to not be widely known we asked kristin what she would tell someone new to the world of therapy animals. she says,"i think it is very mentally, emotionally, and physically highly beneficial, i, from my personal experience."lastly, we wanted to know about more real and memorable stories so we asked her about her most memorable experiences. kristin talks about her memories with those farm animals and how that has made her feel,"there's not alot of farm rescues so i think that is probably like the most memorable and rewarding, and seeing people happy and seeing the joy that they bring to them and everyday is something special."this is so true, we all agreed that we have never felt such joy and happiness. we honestly did not want to leave, it was so relaxing and peaceful and we truly believe everyone should experience this kind of positivity at least once in their lives. finally, she also included some positive information she learned about animals in therapy, "there's different programs throughout the country and they say that a therapist will work with a child for six months and they will have a couple sessions with the animals and they get more progress having the animals in those therapy sessions more than if there is like, you know, one session."again, this made complete sense to us and we are glad we learned this since it helped to prove our objective.