SUBARU 360 °
THERAPY DOGS MAKE TRACKS
In the province of Québec , the rejuvenated St . John
Ambulance Therapy Dogs program is changing the way people think about therapy itself . This is according to Karoline Bergeron , Director of Training and Community Services , who has seen the effect these special animals have on people in stressful situations , particularly children .
The Therapy Dogs program was in effect until 2015 , but then took a pause in order for the group to reorganize . During this break , St . John Ambulance kept receiving requests for the dogs to visit and , starting in 2017 , they began to recruit new volunteer teams in earnest . Now , the program is bigger than ever , but the requests still have the small team of 10 employees firing on all cylinders .
Karoline is convinced that the program is worth the effort . She cites a recent example , the aftermath of a tornado in Gatineau in 2018 . A group of children were so traumatized by the incident , they were morose for days afterwards and weren ’ t eating regularly . “ We brought the therapy dogs and the children started petting the dogs and playing with them and laughing again ,” she says . “ It brought back joy in their lives — I saw it within just a few minutes .”
If there ’ s one caution to this story , it ’ s that there aren ’ t enough therapy dogs and volunteers to meet the demand . Karoline wants to see teams going to more events , visiting hospitals and elder care facilities , and staying with students as they write exams .
“ At this time , we have 36 therapy dog teams spread out from Gatineau to Québec City , two are men and the rest are women ,” says Karoline . “ I would like to have as many therapy dog volunteers as we have regular volunteers , which is around 100 . The therapy dogs are welcome everywhere , they ’ re a great way to reach people .”
This year , the superstar canines and their handlers were stars of both the Salon International de l ’ Automobile de Montréal and the Salon International de l ’ Automobile de Québec . These high-profile appearances gave car-lovers the chance to find out more about the St . John Ambulance Therapy Dogs program , something that Karoline hopes will lead to even more support in the future .
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