Therapy Dogs At Nursing Home
Social opportunities have been highly limited for NHC HealthCare residents in the past three months, as nursing homes around the country have cut off the flow of visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic and its especially lethal impact on senior citizens.
Wednesday’s NHC traffic, however, included some two- and four-legged visitors who got as close as they could without sparking any medical alarm. Therapy dogs were part of the scene, as they were June 17, approaching screens at a sunroom and allowing residents to reach out and at least get their hands sniffed by the pooches on duty and share some thoughts on canines and whatever other topics come to mind.
Visiting were Augusta resident Kathryn Whittle and her dog, Tootsie; North Augusta resident Lynn Ealey and Trigger; and North Augusta resident Jackie Arnett and Rocky.
Arnett said she appreciated the chance to have an in-person visit, rather than a “virtual” encounter, via computers and phones.
“I like it. We did the virtual ones, but it’s very hard to get feedback from people. It’s nice to see human reactions,” she said.
“The dogs don’t know to look at a phone,” Ealey said, noting that the virtual visit was interesting in terms of having involved someone dressed in full personal protective gear – gloves and a gown, mask and face shield – “running around the facility holding up a phone for residents to see the dogs.”
Conversations with residents in therapy situations, Arnett said, tend to focus on canines.
“If they want to ask questions, that’s great. Usually, they just want to tell you about a dog they had when they were younger or when they lived … independently.”
Ealey said she appreciated the fact that the NHC reached out to the therapy dog team to request a visit. She also addressed a misperception in the midst of the ongoing worldwide health crisis.
“People assume that the dogs are happy that they’re home with their people all the time and they’re really not. They miss their visits. The bottom line is, the dogs miss their visits.”
She pointed out that Trigger, now 10 years old, will reach his seventh anniversary as a therapy dog in July. He normally makes about three visits a week and has done more than 1,000 visits over the years.
“He has people that he’s been seeing for many years. They miss him, and he misses them.”
Trigger, who could be considered a senior citizen in dog years, also has some experience as a medical patient – not just as a visitor. He suffered a tear in his right rear leg’s ACL in late February, and has been on the rebound with help from two local vets: Dr. Eva Bogner, with Aiken Pet Fitness and Rehabiliation; and Dr. Holly Landes, with Eastview Animal Wellness, in Augusta.
Trigger’s past few months, while not landing him in a retirement home as a resident, have included such elements as prayer, acupuncture, pool therapy, laser treatments, Chinese herbs, heat and stretching at home.
Service Dogs
A former South Georgia non-profit was ordered to cease and desist operations by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office after an investigation by the Securities and Charities Division.
The nonprofit was incorporated with the state in 2016 by Cecil Allen Brown, Colleen Miller and her son Dalton Miller.
According to the cease and desist, the Barefoot K9 Project (BFK9) “engaged in fraudulent activity,” “falsely represented that it provided highly trained service dogs to disabled individuals” and “represented that ‘all proceeds would go to training costs when almost all proceeds were used to pay for the living expenses of Brown and Colleen Miller.”
WALB was able to get Colleen Miller on the phone back in January.
At the time, she committed to doing an interview; however, WALB has spoken with her on the phone multiple times since then, and she has not engaged in an interview.
On the first phone call, Miller explained her and her son’s experience with the project and Brown.
Miller said she took a job with Brown through Craigslist, and that he told her he was handicapped and needed a personal assistant to help manage his home business.
Miller said she was under the impression Brown was already running the nonprofit and had already placed dogs with clients.
Miller explained that some money donated to the project did go to build kennels and pay for some day-to-day care for the dogs.
However, she said as far as trained service dogs went, no dogs were placed with any clients while she was there.
She said that one day she found a receipt for a $3,000 vacation package in Brown’s home. She said the last four digits for the card used to pay for the vacation package were the same last four digits for the nonprofit’s bank account.
Miller said she then decided to “out” Brown on Facebook live.
Miller admitted she was romantically involved with Brown, but the relationship ended because she said she eventually saw him for who he was.
She claimed that Brown threatened her, and tried to pay her off to leave and shut up.
Miller said before she moved away from Homerville, she gave as much information to a private investigator as she could.
She also said the FBI called her asking for information, and she pointed them toward the P.I.
The cease and desist mentioned two people, including one breeder, who donated dogs to BFK9 under the belief that they would become service dogs.
“All but one of the donated dogs were allegedly sold by Brown,” the cease and desist said.
A German shepherd breeder from Virginia told WALB she lost thousands of dollars when she donated six pure-bred German shepherd puppies to the Barefoot K9 Project, because she would have sold them otherwise.
Dee Brown, who is unrelated to Cecil Allen Brown, said she does not know where most of the dogs are or if they are okay.
“He and Colleen would come up to Virginia,” Dee said of the original arrangements she made with BFK9. “They would come up and pick the dogs up.”
When they picked the puppies up, she said nothing seemed weird or off.
“They had a van with Barefoot K9 Project on it, and they had crates and everything,” she said. “It looked like a legitimate service.”
Dee and several clients’ families eventually got suspicious.
Dee said she became concerned about the welfare of the six puppies she donated.
At one point, Dee said Brown told her one of the dogs she donated to BFK9 died after being bitten by a rattlesnake. Dee said she asked Brown to have a necropsy done on the dog to find out for sure how it died.
“He said, ‘oh, well the dog’s already been buried.’ I said, ‘go dig the dog up. Have a necropsy and let me pay for it.’ And of course, that never happened,” Dee said.
Dee said Colleen Miller told her a different story about the dog’s death.
“She told me the dog had actually hung himself in an accident trying to climb a kennel,” Dee said.
At that time, Dee said she decided she had no other option but to get the other dogs off the farm. Dee said Miller told her she was moving to Pennsylvania, and that she would bring Dee’s dogs to her in Virginia on the way.
Uber Pet Launches
The furry friends of Australia now have a new transport option, with Uber launching a new ride sharing service for animals.
Whether it’s a trip to the vet, an outing to the park or even to hang out at the pub, Uber will now allow pets inside some of its cars.
After a successful trial in Brisbane and Sydney, Uber Pet will now be available in Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Canberra, Newcastle, Hobart, Cairns, Sunshine Coast, Geelong, Wollongong and Darwin.
However there’s a catch: bringing your mate along for the ride will attract a $6-$7 surcharge.
That fee also doesn’t cover any potential damage or cleaning fees.
Uber says the surcharge does not apply to service dogs, which can ride along in any vehicle for no extra cost.
To avoid being slugged an extra cleaning fee, Uber advises customers to keep their pets restrained and bring a blanket or towel to reduce the risk of damage or mess.
Animal Welfare Service
The voluntary organisation Gozo SPCA is still waiting for a 24/7 Gozitan Animal Welfare service to be set up, as the Gozo Ministry awaits approval from Office of the Prime Minister.
Gozo SPCA rescues and shelters abandoned and stray animals, and work closely with Animal Welfare Gozo. With summer approaching, their work load increases. Speaking to The Malta Independent, the Gozo SPCA explained that with summer hours, there will only be emergency cover in the morning, Monday to Friday.
This is not the first time the newsroom was in contact with the animal rescue organisation, when back in October 2019, the Gozo SPCA made a public call for Malta’s sister island to have a 24/7 Animal Welfare service.
“In total, there are only 25 hours a week when there is an emergency cover for stray and abandoned animals. So far this year, we already took in 80 animals and right now we have no more space to take in more dogs, but together with Animal Welfare we are trying our best.”
Without a 24/7 emergency service, there is no vet open or animal ambulance available 24/7 in Gozo.
This newsroom contacted Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri regarding the issue and whether or not Gozo will be seeing such a 24/7 service set up. Minister Camilleri provided a short reply. “Work on this service is at a very advanced stage. Announcements will be made in due course.”
Back in October, then Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana informed this newsroom that the Ministry for Gozo was awaiting approval from The Office of the Prime Minister to allow Animal Welfare in Gozo to operate on a shift basis so that animal welfare services can be offered 24/7 in Gozo. Since this statement was made, eight full months have passed and still the Gozo SPCA struggles to make ends meet and protect all abandoned and stray animals.
How To Prepare For Shelter Evacuation
Evacuating during a hurricane can be a scary and confusing process, and for those who need to head to an emergency shelter, finding a place to stay that accommodates pets can be difficult.
Experts say it’s essential for pet owners to plan in advance where they’ll house furry members of the family since many hotels and shelters don’t allow pets.
Emergency shelters across the Palmetto State are managed and overseen by the American Red Cross. These shelters generally do not allow dogs, cats, birds or other household pets unless they’re service animals, said S.C. Red Cross spokesman Ben Williamson.
In order to maintain recommended social distancing measures necessary to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, shelter occupancy will be significantly limited this year, leaving little room to accommodate pets.
“Because of COVID-19, the Red Cross is unable to welcome any pets into our shelters for hurricane season,” Williamson said.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic swept across the country, the Red Cross already limited household pets at its emergency shelters. That’s because some evacuees may be allergic to pets, Williamson said. Others might be nervous or uncomfortable around them.
“We welcome anyone into our shelters. We don’t turn anyone away,” he said. “We want to make sure everyone can come to our shelters and not have issues.”
Charleston County does have a facility pre-identified to house domesticated household pets and their owners seeking shelter from category 1, 2 and 3 hurricanes, said Charleston County Emergency Management Director Jason Patno.
The shelter is “co-located,” meaning that owners and their pets will be in the same facility. But all pets will be housed in cages or containers in an area separate from where their owners stay.
The facility is located at 3765 Leeds Ave. in North Charleston.
Owners should bring food, medications and a crate for their pet. The shelter does not accept exotic animals, and animals demonstrating aggressive behavior might be turned away, Panto said.
Much like emergency hurricane shelters, pet-friendly shelters are “shelters of last resort,” Panto said, and residents are highly encouraged to relocate on their own away with a family member or friend away if possible.
Kay Hyman, spokeswoman for the Charleston Animal Society, agreed.
Helping Dogs On The Loose
What options are available to you if you find a stray dog? In most places in the U.S., you have four options: 1. Drop the dog off at the municipal shelter. 2. Call animal control and have them pick up the dog. 3. Hold on to the dog and try to find the owner yourself. 4. Ignore the dog and let it go.
These options are all problematic. Options 1 and 2 require taking the dog out of their community and transporting it to an offsite location, sometimes many miles from its home. Once the dog leaves its community, it can be difficult to get it home. Reclaim fees, long distance to the shelter, fear of animal services and many other factors contribute to people not reclaiming their dogs. The shelters that have the most sophisticated and successful return programs have gotten up to 45 percent of impounded dogs home, but for most shelters, that number is still very low, around 15 or 20 percent. Option 3 puts the entire burden of getting the dog home on the finder, who may not know about all of the available resources or have the time to make found posters and post found information online. Option 4 isn’t feasible or ideal when a dog is in distress, is truly lost, is injured or sick, or otherwise really needs the help of a Good Samaritan.
So what should animal services agencies do to help? One of the most important functions of animal services is to help stray and lost dogs. Have you ever seen a lost dog running down the side of a busy, multi-lane road, panting and anxiously looking for safety? Our animal protection officers help save dogs that have found themselves lost and afraid and often injured, on an almost-daily basis. Our shelter serves as a very short-term crisis housing center for dogs in distress who get picked up by a community member or an officer. However, at the same time, we recognize that many stray dogs are hanging out in their neighborhoods, just a house or two away from where they live, and we may be able to get those dogs home more easily if we don’t remove them from their communities. Over the past two decades, animal welfare has come so far when it comes to innovation and we’re long overdue for rethinking our approach to stray dogs. Here are some starting points:
Create and implement a stray dog intake needs assessment. Imagine you find a stray dog. It appears healthy and is wagging its tail. You find your local shelter’s website and read that you can call or text the shelter and file a found report. You text the shelter and someone texts you right back. They ask you several questions, including where the dog was found; if it has any injuries or appears to be sick; if the dog is friendly; if it has identification; if the finder is willing to hold the dog for up to 72 hours to help us try to get it home. If the dog is sick or injured, poses any threat to public safety, is not safe to handle, or is in immediate danger and the finder cannot hold it, then the best place for that dog is likely the shelter. If the dog is healthy and friendly and the finder is willing to hold it for a short time, that’s where the animal services organization can really kick into action!
Get that dog home! If you’re is willing to hold on to a found dog, you can do a number of things to help that dog get home faster. First, create a found report and get it online right away. Second, staff or volunteers can post the dog’s information on social media sites like Facebook lost and found pages and Craigslist. You can e-mail the finder a printable FOUND sign or print signs yourself and ask volunteers to post them in the area. Share a ‘getting lost pets home’ tips sheet or e-mail with finders and ask them to go to the nearest participating veterinarian or other business who will scan the dog for a microchip. Just because someone is willing to hold the dog, doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of things staff and volunteers can do to help them. Can you imagine how fast you could get dogs home if you provided all this help to stray finders and provide excellent, prompt service to locate owners?
Ask for help but don’t create a black-and-white policy.We are here to serve the public and there really are stray dogs who need to come to the shelter. If your goal is to intake the dogs who really need to come in while helping dogs get home and stay in the community any time it’s possible, you will need to use a case management approach, explain to the community WHY you’re trying to reduce the number of stray dogs who enter the shelter, and earnestly as for help. There will always be some people who just won’t want to hold a stray dog they’ve found and so we need to think about how to help those dogs too. Can you create a stray found-to-foster program in your high intake neighborhoods? Can you engage other people in the area to hold those strays? What if you found a few animal lovers in your high intake neighborhoods and pay them to be the first point of contact to hold stray dogs so they can be more easily returned? You could even give these people spay/neuter, vaccine and microchip vouchers to give to the owners once the dog is returned. Most communities aren’t yet trying these strategies, but they should be.
Communicate constantly with your community.Tell them how many stray dogs are coming in to the shelter and why bringing a dog to the shelter isn’t always the best solution. Tell them how they can help by holding a stray dog and what services you offer to get those dogs home. Track your data to learn what the return rate is of dogs who do NOT come to the shelter, but stay in a home instead. It’s likely to be much higher and you can use this to explain why you are asking for their help. Talk to people about the importance of securing their fences and offer fence building and fence repair assistance to help prevent dogs from getting loose. Tell the stories of injured and sick stray dogs who you helped and also tell stories of the local heroes who found a dog, held it, and helped to get it home. Talk about how you’re working to address the root causes that lead to dogs getting out of their homes and yards. Tell people how they can help. We’ve spend more than 100 years telling people to bring every stray dog to the shelter. Now we have to do the work of asking our communities to be part of the solution to keep and get dogs home.
As we build a whole, new range of services to help keep dogs in their homes and communities and reduce the number of stray and lost dogs entering the shelter, we should also use the tools and resources available to help get as many dogs as possible identified. Animal services should provide both microchips and tags on a voluntary basis because proactive identification is the best option we have to reducing shelter intake and making sure we get dogs back with their owners.
Fire Investigation Dog
ESSEX’S first ever Fire Investigation dog is now working to protect the county after completing her training recently.
Three-year-old Sprocker Spaniel Fizz will take part in fire investigations across Essex for an initial six month trial period, and support Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) in understanding how fires started, as well as why they may have escalated.
Fizz, who was trained by handler Graham Currie and certificated and licensed by Essex Police, will be based at ECFRS’ Urban Search and Rescue site in Lexden, near Colchester.
Fizz’s work will help in criminal investigations: in cases of deliberate fires and potential arson, she can identify up to 30 flammable liquids and solids, many of which are completely odourless to humans.
As well as her operational capabilities, Fizz and her detection skills will act as a deterrent to potential arsonists in communities across Essex. With arson crimes often difficult to solve, it is hoped Fizz will improve investigations of deliberate fires in both urban and rural settings.
Jo Turton, Chief Fire Officer at ECFRS, said: “Introducing Fizz is a really positive step for our fire investigation process and protection work, which are both vital in making Essex a safe place to live, work and travel.
“Fizz will help us to understand more about how fires start and help inform our work to identify trends and prevent further similar incidents happening.
“Collaboration and working more closely with partners to provide a better service for the people of Essex is one of our priorities and this is another example of how we’re trying to do just that.”
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said: “We are so pleased to see that Fizz has her accreditation and will be joining the other fantastic dogs working across both the fire and rescue service and police force here in Essex.
“The collaboration shown here by both services, be it human or canine, really shows what we can achieve by working together. By using innovative ideas and working as one team we can keep more people safe and as well as preventing and detecting crime.
“We can’t wait to hear about Fizz’s future successes.”
Puppy Playoffs
Good news for fans of hockey dogs in general and the Washington Capitals in particular – the Caps Canines 2020 Puppy Playoffs are a thing again this season, and they’re happening soon.
In fact, the big game is scheduled to air on the team’s Facebook page this Friday, June 26.
Players will be named after various Capitals skaters and goalies, and they will all come from a shelter nearby.
Filmed at the Olde Town Pet Resort in northern Virginia, another special guest fan will be Captain the Caps Pup, the team service dog who is due to graduate to Puppy College soon.
Captain recently won the Best Team Dog Award in the 2020 NHL Fan Choice Awards, beating out a ton of other great competitors to take the coveted honor.
“Need a rule check,” Ovie commented while sharing the announcement about the upcoming game, “Is it considered offside if I just nap inside the [face-off] circle and never leave the [offensive] zone?”
The actual human Washington Capitals finished the abbreviated-yet-extended 2019-20 NHL season with 90 points and a record of 41 wins, 20 losses and eight overtime losses through 69 games, for a winning percentage of .652, good enough for third overall in the Eastern Conference and first in the Metro Division.
If the playoffs are able to go on as scheduled due to COVID-19, Washington will play the Boston Bruins, Holland the Pup’s Tampa Bay Lightning and the Philadelphia Flyers during the play-in round for seeding purposes during the first round.
The site of those games is still being determined, though the initial field of a dozen host cities has been trimmed in half.
For more news, analysis and opinions on Capitals hockey, be sure to check out our FanSided Network sister sites Puck Prose and Stars and Sticks.
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Navy Working Dog
When an Air Force working dog suffering a heat injury in Saudi Arabia needed a blood transfusion, he got it from a Navy dog named Army, in what officials are calling a joint service lifesaving effort.
Cvoky, a 120-pound Belgian Malinois, was rushed by helicopter from Prince Sultan Air Base to Kuwait’s Camp Arifjan earlier this month, after his temperature reached nearly 110 degrees — a potentially life-threatening situation — the military said in two recent statements.
“He did not seem like himself” during a training event on June 9, said Cvoky’s handler, Air Force Staff Sgt. Juan Reyes, in a statement a few days after the incident. “We rushed him right to the medical tent.”
In recent years, a rash of heat injuries among the troops — some fatal — has plagued the military, which last year saw its first decline in such cases in five years. Still, more than 2,000 troops suffered heat exhaustion in 2019 and some 500 had heatstroke, a military report said in April.
At the Saudi air base, 5-year-old Cvoky was treated just like a human would be — taken out of the heat and cooled with ice, said Maj. Valentina Merola, a public health officer there, in a statement issued last week.
While common for both humans and canines during the hotter months in the Middle East, heat injuries can have severe and lasting consequences for dogs, such as internal bleeding, said Capt. Jon Drake, veterinarian in charge in Kuwait.
“Many dogs that reach high temperatures like this one did, do not survive,” Drake said. “We were very lucky [Cvoky’s injury] was caught quickly … treatment was given right away, and we were able to medevac the dog.”
A UH-60 Black Hawk from the 1st General Support Aviation Battalion, 189th Aviation Regiment flew him to the Kuwait base, which was the nearest facility with the necessary veterinary specialists. The aviation unit, part of the Army’s Task Force Spartan, includes National Guard soldiers from Indiana and Montana.
“This is a first for us doing an international country transfer of a working dog,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brett Milton, the pilot in command.
While the helicopter was in-transit, members of the Army’s 994th Medical Detachment (Veterinarian Services) in Kuwait readied for a blood transfusion, and Capt. Melody Mullin found the right donor with the appropriate blood type — the Navy dog named Army.
“We came in and he donated a pint of blood for the dog in need,” said his handler, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Sera Tamez. “It feels really good to help one of our own.”
Drake credited Cvoky’s handler with recognizing the need to act fast. That early recognition, as well as the joint service teamwork contributed to what Kimbrell called a “success story.”
“Cvoky is totally back to himself,” said Reyes, his handler with the 378th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, who deployed with the dog from Hill Air Force Base, Utah. “Right now he is just relaxing and enjoying life. This was definitely a happy ending.”
At Prince Sultan Air Base, where troops deployed late last year for the first time in more than a decade due to escalating tensions with Iran, working dogs are the “first line of defense,” said Tech Sgt. Erick Hernandez, the squadron’s kennel master.
Cvoky’s been in service for over three years and this was his first deployment, the Air Force said. Unfortunately, this was his second heat injury.
“More than likely, it will happen again, so once he’s treated and back healthy in Kuwait, he’ll return back to the states where he will retire from the military,” Hernandez said.
Cut-Out Of Local Dog Creating Smiles
A recognizable figure in the community is causing joy and de-stressing people at IU Health Arnett.
It’s Teddy! Well a cardboard cut out of Teddy.
Bob Feuer is the 14-year-old Samoyed’s handler.
He said he came up with the idea after seeing a hospital on the west coast do it.
Since therapy dog’s aren’t allowed at the hospital just yet, GLGraphix in Lafayette made this almost four foot tall tiny Teddy.
He was delivered last week and is planning on going room to room to surprise patients.
Feuer and the volunteer program coordinator at IU Health said they can’t wait to have actual Teddy back.
“Teddy is used to working 30-35 hours a week and right now he is bored to tears,” said Feuer. “He just lays on the living room and lays there all day.
“I know it will help the staff to just decompress and have something to smile about so when he came to me with the idea I’m like alright this looks like something we can do,” said Cheryl Suter. “We can sanitize it. We can clean it. ”
Suter is the Manager of Volunteer Services at Indiana University Health Arnett.
There is no timeline when therapy dogs will be allowed in the hospitals again.
For now, hospital staff and patients said he is a paw-some replacement.
