(MY) pets positive

[Guest guest]

Thursday July 5, 2007 - The Star

 

Positive pets

 

WHEEL POWER; BY ANTHONY THANASAYAN

 

Pets can enrich the lives of the disabled and the elderly.

 

 

 

FOR me and the committee members and advisers of Petpositive, the end

of July marks the start of many great things to come. A non-profit

NGO, Petpositive aims to use pets to empower the disabled and elderly

to lead positive and happy lives. We call this " animal-assisted

therapy " (AAT).

 

We work with all disabled persons such as epileptics, stroke

survivors, those with mental illness and the blind. If they are

disabled or elderly, they are automatically " members " and are eligible

for help. They don't even need pets to warrant our attention or to

join in our activities.

 

As for the companion animals, we work with all kinds: birds, dogs,

cats, rodents, fish, etc. We do not expect the handicapped or the

elderly to come to us; we will go to them if they invite us.

 

The special friendship comes not from us but from pets. And they are

for life – not for a brief half-hour, a day, a week or even a month.

 

Pets do wonders for the handicapped and the aged. Animals reach out to

the disabled and elderly in a way that doctors have not been able to.

My service dogs and I are testimony to this.

 

One of Petpositive's advisers is over 70 and lives alone with his dog.

He is diabetic and says that his dog keeps him healthy and motivates

him to exercise as they take long walks in the morning.

 

A tetraplegic (paralysed from the neck down) says his mutt gives him

the motivation to get out of bed every morning and keeps him " on his

toes " , so to speak.

 

I know of an elderly woman who checks in and out of hospital because

of her health problems. She says that if it wasn't for a pet cat at

home, she would not have a reason to check out of the hospital.

 

Petpositive, on which I serve as president, is made up of a team of

AAT disabled and elderly recipients, medical specialists and

veterinarians. We will be having our official launch and fund-raising

charity dinner on July 29.

 

The event will be graced by Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Donald Lim

Siang Chai, at the Legend Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Please come and give us your support. You can turn a disabled person

into a VIP at Petpositive's charity dinner. All you have to do is

offer to pay for his or her ticket, and Petpositive will do the rest.

For details, call % 012 220 3146.