May 1, 2013

Domesticated animals have been a boon for mankind throughout history. One of the constants has been the dog. They’ve guarded man’s families and livestock, have searched for the lost in the woods and those buried in rubble.

They are also a viable therapeutic modality. It’s long been known that petting an animal, a dog or a cat, can help bring down a person’s high blood pressure, but there’s much more.

Blythe Lundstrom is the director of community relations for Paws for People, a pet-assisted visitation volunteer service based in Delaware. She said the pet therapy is “a diversion to someone’s stay [in a health facility]. It’s also comforting.”

It’s a way to ease and comfort people with various ailments or who just want a calming diversion in their day. One area where Paws helps out is with children who have reading or speech problems.

“It’s calming. If children are reading to a dog, they don’t get judged or ridiculed. We have stutterers that stop stuttering when they’re reading to a dog. It’s a comforting, warm, gentle and affectionate pet therapy,” she said

Lundstrom added that Paws therapy teams — the dog with its owner — work with students at the University of Delaware to help them de-stress by giving them a calming break from their studies.

The dogs and their owners go through various levels of training and are allowed in most facilities, including hospitals. Paws for People works with hospitals, assisted living facilities, hospices, schools and libraries throughout the Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland area. They also go to other locations by special request.

“We go anywhere,” Lundstrom said.

Patients are not the only ones who benefit from pet therapy. Sue Good and Richard Francis, both from Wilmington, volunteer their time and dogs for the service.

Francis, and his German shepherd LT have been involved for 18 months. Francis said working with nursing homes and with kids makes him feel good.

“It turns me on,” he said. “It’s cool watching the kids. When they read to the dog, they don’t stutter.”

Good, working with her golden retriever Archie, reports similar findings.

“The dogs work really well with kids. They’re a good barometer of the kids and how well they’re doing.”

Locally, Paws works with Bayard Taylor Library and the Willowdale Special Needs Ministry in Kennett Square, Jenner’s Pond facilities in West Grove, Wellington at Hershey’s Mill in West Chester and several facilities in Lima, Media and Radnor in Delaware County.

According to the Paws for People Web site, pet therapy improves cardiovascular health, releases endorphins that have a calming effect and diminishes overall physical pain.

Benefits for mental health include lifting spirits and lessening depression, decreasing feelings of isolation and alienation, encourages communication and increases socialization.

In the area of physical therapy, the animals can help increase joint movement and improve recovery time, maintain or increase motor skills and provides motivation to move more, stretch farther and exercise longer.

GiggyBites, the pet treat manufacturer and retailer in Olde Ridge Village, hosted a carnival fund-raiser for Paws for People on April 27.

For more information on Paws for People, go to www.pawsforpeople.org

Photo: Sue Good and her golden retriever Archie pose with some two-legged friends at the Paws for People fund-raiser/carnival at GiggyBites in Olde Ridge Village.

The idea of walking in the green has taken on a broader meaning. The Kendal-Crosslands retirement facility has been granted arboretum status. It’s what horticulturist Casey Groff calls a residential, or live-in, arboretum.

But people don’t have to be residents of the community to walk the grounds. Visitors are welcome to stop in and enjoy the property. All that’s requested is that they check in at the reception desk in the main building. There they can get a map and walk or bicycle on a self-guided tour.

Kendal-Crosslands is roughly 500 acres that’s both residential and open woods and meadows, Groff said. Morton Register of Arboreta in Illinois granted the arboretum status on March 4.

That status was the result of efforts by the residents, the staff and the Brandywine Conservancy, Groff said. The residents walked the area and identified various species of trees that they liked and were representative of the property. They selected 35. From there, Groff and his staff worked with the conservancy, mapping the property and making the request to Morton.

He said there are several levels of arboretum status. Level One, which is what K-C achieved, only needs 25 species. They might apply for another level since there are more than 70 species in the official collection, and likely many more than that.

“This is not a finished project,” Groff said.

Michele Berardi, the director of marketing and community relations, said having the arboretum open to the general public fits the facility’s goals based on its Quaker values.

“We encourage and welcome all people,” she said. “We want to promote a sense of community and take responsibility in the larger community.”

The arboretum also encourages practices that sustain the environment, Berardi said.

Several arboreta in the area have Quaker roots. They include Bartram Gardens, Tyler Arboretum and what is now Longwood Gardens among others.

The entrance to Kendal is on Route 1 near Route 52, while the entrance to Crosslands is off Route 926.

Regis is a sweet and docile adult cat looking for a furrever family. Regis came to CCSPCA over the winter as a lost cat, was adopted into a home, but then recently returned as Regis was not fond of life amongst other felines. Regis couldn’t be more affectionate toward people and would be a perfect match for a home with kids, but will need to be a single cat. Regis wants nothing more than to fulfill his duty as a companion to someone, could that be you? May 4 and 5 is Cinco de Meow, when all adult cats are $15 to adopt at CCSPCA. If you are able to provide Regis or any of our other animals here at the shelter a home, visit the Chester County SPCA at 1212 Phoenixville Pike in West Goshen or call 610-692-6113. Regis’ registration number is 96813710. To meet some of our other adoptable animals, visit the shelter or log onto www.ccspca.org. Not quite ready to adopt? Consider becoming a CCSPCA foster parent. Kitten season is around the corner and CCSPCA needs fosters to raise kittens and mother cats.  Additional information and applications are available online or at the shelter.