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Published on 09/01/1997 All articles from this issue

Pet therapy makes all the difference to these residents

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By Carol Tiegs

Town Crier Staff Writer

"It's Molly and me," signs out Los Altos resident Janet Kersteen as she wheels her dog Molly into Pleasant View Convalescent Hospital in Cupertino every Wednesday. Residents and staff look forward to their weekly visits.

Kersteen and Molly, a poodle mix, have been visiting at the Veterans Affairs Health Care center (VA) in Palo Alto since 1989, shortly after Kersteen adopted Molly from the Humane Society of Santa Clara County. Two years ago they added Pleasant View to their agenda, after several of their "boys" from the hospital were transferred there.

"I had volunteered at the VA for several years already," Kersteen said. "Molly became such a part of the family, she just went everywhere with me."

That's how Kersteen and Molly got started doing pet assisted therapy.

At Pleasant View, they started by visiting residents in the main activity room. Now they've been asked to visit residents' rooms as well.

People who are nearly paralyzed make the effort to pet Molly, Kersteen said. She told of a woman who rarely spoke, who worked to say Molly's name. "When we leave, everyone waves goodbye," she said.

Molly's stroller is a concession to her own disability, a paw deformity brought on by Lupus. The stroller actually makes it easier for Kersteen to take Molly on her rounds.

"It's just something I do on my own," Kersteen said. "I didn't realize we were the 'Hug a Pet' program until I saw it in the newsletter at Pleasant View."

"It's so rewarding," she said.

"The people who bring them are as much therapy as their pets," said Lanita Allen, head of the activities department at Pilgrim Haven in Los Altos. "The pets are an opening for people to talk."

Volunteers with Pet Assisted Therapy Services, including several Los Altos residents, come to Pilgrim Haven monthly to visit with residents.

Pet Assisted Therapy Services started in 1983 as the brainchild of a woman whose daughter was undergoing cancer treatment, according to program member Isabel Singleton of Mountain View. Neighbors and their pets provided the first therapy. Today the group has more than 300 volunteers who visit more than two dozen sites including the Santa Clara Children's Center. They take their own animals, including llamas, ponies and bunnies as well as cats and dogs, Singleton said. Animals are "thoroughly screened" by veterinarians who donate their services.

"The connection is the animals," Singleton said. "People recall stories of their own pets. People have their favorites they get to see on a regular basis."

For information on Pet Assisted Therapy Services, or to volunteer, call (408) 280-6171.