By Caleb Wheeler | Staff Writer
Pet Partners of Central Texas is bringing friendly — and fuzzy — faces to libraries, hospitals and schools to help promote overall well-being with therapy animals in the Waco community.
“Pet therapy can reduce feelings of loneliness or isolation, encourage communication and socialization skills, and provide comfort during stressful times, such as during cancer treatment or after the loss of a loved one. Additionally, depression and anxiety levels usually decrease in patients who receive pet therapy,” Heather Schalk, Blanchard Valley Hospital volunteer coordinator, said on the hospital site.
Pet Partners of Central Texas, previously called Angel Paws, is a local volunteer organization that has teams of people who volunteer their pets for the community. These teams, composed of one handler and one animal, are often seen around campus providing support to students. There are currently 16 teams in Waco that are under the organization.
“We volunteer at the hospital, Ascension Providence, we go out to the Hewitt Public Library during the summer, and we … go to Baylor campus. We volunteer at [the Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center] and Earle Hall to visit with the students there who might be missing their dogs at home,” Freddie Bozarth, pet therapy handler, said. “We used to go to the Baylor Law School, and we’d meet in the library during finals, but pretty much anywhere we’re invited, we will show.”
Bozarth said the Pet Partners of Central Texas organization is as involved in the community as they can be, and she sees a positive effect when her therapy dog, Bentley, interacts with Baylor students. She said students will often smile and enjoy the dog’s company, but they are often under the impression the animal cannot be petted.
“[Our] social media will send out a message saying that the therapy dogs are somewhere,” Bozarth said. “A lot of students look and they smile, but they don’t want to touch [the animal] because they think they’re my personal service dog.”
Bozarth has been volunteering for 20 years, and Bentley is her fifth dog to be a part of the program. But teams are not confined to a handler and dog. Bozarth said a team can be a handler with a dog, cat or even a miniature horse.
“We take a break during the summer just because it’s not as busy and it’s just too hot for our dogs to be out, but [we’re usually out] at least once a month or as often as we get invited,” said Bozarth. “We’ve even been in daycares, and we go to the nursery, so even the babies get to interact if they want to.”
Bozarth said her personal favorite place to volunteer is the hospital. She said they usually do not make it past the lobby before being asked to go into a specific room. The team also loves visiting Baylor and walking around campus to interact with students. Bozarth said they love going anywhere they can, so if a group wants a dog visit, the organization will do their best to be there.
“People really lean into their inner child; all the students are just sitting cross-legged on the floor. We see a huge increase in our foot traffic [when dogs are there], people coming in to see the dogs,” Kelsey Austin, assistant director for collegiate recovery, said.
Austin said the BARC likes to have Pet Partners visit at least once a month, and they try to schedule all visits at the beginning of the year. There are usually between one and four dogs per event helping students’ mental well-being.
“Besides driving [visitors] and increasing morale among students … it’s really helpful for our kids who are feeling homesick or who are really missing their fur babies back where they’re from,” Austin said.
Contact Pet Partners of Central Texas to find out more information or coordinate an event.
