Melba Gray doesn’t describe herself as an “animal person”, but even she finds it hard to turn down a cuddle from Charity, a two-year-old labrador who roams Logan Hospital as a therapy dog, bringing smiles to patients’ faces.
“She’s very sweet,” Ms Gray, who was spending her third week in hospital with a broken leg, said as she petted Charity.
Charity is part of the therapy dog pack from Empower Assistance Dogs, a local organisation that regularly visits the hospital with their handlers.
She and her canine companions have one job: to brighten the days of patients admitted to hospital.
The hospital says the pups deliver “every time”.
Volunteer Glenda Turner, who chaperones the visits, said both patients and staff loved the therapy dogs.
“There’s always a lot of smiles and excitement from everyone on visiting day,” she said.
Charity’s final visit of the year also marked the one-year anniversary of Logan Hospital’s partnership with Empower Assistance Dogs.
“Thanks to ongoing sponsorship from Patino’s Personal Lawyers, we are thrilled to announce that Charity and her puppy pals will be back in the new year,” Metro South Health said in a statement.
“We can’t wait to welcome Charity and the pack back for another year of smiles, tail wags and ‘paws’-itivity.”
Ms Turner said she was grateful to the team at Patino’s Personal Lawyers for agreeing to sponsor the therapy dog visits for another year.
Empower Assistance Dogs is based out of Loganlea, and has provided this type of “cuddle therapy” to local schools, businesses, and health facilities since 2016.
Founder Tracey Murray told MyCity Logan when the Logan Hospital partnership was announced that each dog was trained extensively to provide a range of support.
“Over the years, I have seen people that have not been communicating with medical staff that have suddenly started communicating because of the interaction with the dog,” she said.
“They are patting and chatting, and often they will tell the handler things they didn’t even realise they were going to be telling them.
“We have to make sure our handlers are trained really well because they do a variety of different jobs, going into hospices and all sorts of things.
“Our handlers give so much of their time.”
The dogs have also proved to be a success with school students.
“A dog is non-judgemental, so you don’t have the same pressure on you to interact with an animal as you do with a human,” Ms Murray said.
“School avoidance, behavioural escalations – it all helps to have professionally trained, safe and reliable dogs.
“Our handlers are also trained to know when they have to pass information across for safety and they all sign confidentiality agreements so they are not breaching anyone’s privacy.”
