Casey, My Therapy Kerry

by Ben Teller
© Ben Teller

I have been taking Casey, my 2 year old male, on visits to the children's ward at the Los Angeles County/USC Hospital since February '96. These trips are in conjunction with the Animal Assisted Therapy program of the Southern California Humane Society. (The Pedigree company has given a grant to support this program.)

Casey first had to pass a temperment test administered by the Humane Society. The test included such things as getting poked at with a cane, getting approached by someone in as wheel chair, having a bed pan dropped near him, and responding to commands that I gave him. The idea was to try an simulate possible conditions in a hospital and see if Casey could handle the situation. He passed with flying colors and they were very anxious for me to start hospital visitations with him. Casey also had to get a medical clearance from the vet and have a negative stool exam.

In this particular hospital we don't go from room to room visiting, but rather all the kids who can get out of bed are gathered together in a conference room. I give a little talk about Casey and Kerries and the kids take turns petting him and giving him dog biscuits. They all want to know if he can see with all that hair on his face. Casey is very patient and gentle with the kids and of course happy to get all those biscuits.

We are working on getting permission to do visitations at LA Children's hospital but they are being quite cautious about letting the program in. We also plan to start visiting an AIDS hospice in the near future.