Photo: Supplied / Pim Alan
A Dunedin woman hopes to find a way to keep bringing a little donkey joy to residents of rest homes and dementia units in the wake of Hato Hone St John's decision to axe its animal therapy programme, Therapy Pets.
The organisation has cut a raft of community programmes including its hospital volunteers, community carers and pet therapy services, affecting around 1100 volunteers.
Dunedin woman Pim Allan and her husband have been a part of their programme, bringing 25-year-old Hoeti and 15-year-old Travis to dementia units over summer.
Photo: Supplied / Pim Alan
She said there had been an overwhelmingly positive response to the visits.
The residents look forward to the visits for days beforehand and talk about it a lot afterwards.
"One of the managers came to us and said there was a lady who usually stays in her room the whole time and doesn't communicate with anybody who came out, sat in the sunshine with the other residents, interacted with the donkeys and spoke to some people - she'd been at the rest home for quite a while and hadn't done that before.
"At another rest home, my husband was walking around with the donkey, and an old man put his arms around the donkey and cried. We've both been quite moved ourselves by the response of the residents.
Photo: Supplied / Pim Alan
And she said the donkeys enjoy the visits too.
"They love it. They load into the float really easily, and we can't get them back in at the end."
Alan said she and her husband will be look what would be involved in terms of insurance and other requirements to continue the visits on their own.
In an email to volunteers, Hato Hone St John said it had to make tough decisions about where it could have the greatest impact with the resources it has.
Hato Hone volunteers work in hospital emergency departments supporting patients and their whānau and offering support to long stay patients, as well as visiting rest homes, reading to residents and helping with grocery shopping.
Hato Hone St John Deputy chief executive Pete Loveridge said the decision was not down to cost cutting, but because the programmes were not aligned with its new ten-year strategy.
The organisation would explore whether the services could be passed to other organisations over coming months, Loveridge said.
Another pet therapy provider said she would welcome St John volunteers.
Photo: Supplied / Pim Alan
Canine Friends Pet Therapy provided a similar service to St John, taking dogs to hundreds of rest homes, hospital and hospices throughout the country, though it charged a small membership fee to pet owners.
Its president, Vicky Graham, told Checkpoint she had been trying to get in touch with St John, and would welcome volunteers facing the axe.
The benefits of pet-facilitated therapy were becoming better known and appreciated, Graham said.
"We share our dogs with people in need - people that are distressed, elderly people that are sick and in going through rehabilitation, just to enrich their lives and wellbeing."
It also gave volunteers a sense of purpose to see the joy their dogs provided, she said.
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