Animals Help in Patients’ Therapy

Ken Perlis, an animal-assisted therapy consultant, has trained Sammy the Dachshund to fetch, lie down, break dance and heal the sick.

Sammy acts like a windup toy, jittering when he is standing in place, and exploding from corner to corner of the Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital’s courtyard, chasing his racquetball as the patients play keep-away, tossing the ball to each other. But when his trainer calls, Sammy suddenly appears at Perlis’ side, spitting the racquetball out of his mouth and waiting for another toss.

Perlis is the director of Companion Animals Meeting People. For 12 years he has roved hospitals and nursing homes, helping people exercise muscles they can no longer totally control.

Instead of an hourlong therapy session with machines, hospital patients spend an hour with Sammy and his friends every Friday, petting, brushing and cuddling the animals.

“It is more fun working on a grip by feeding a carrot to a guinea pig than by squeezing some machine. But these animals also provide an unconditional love to the patients that make them feel safe enough to try new things,” Perlis said.

Although a therapist can encourage movement, the animals beg for it. Patients who have been unable to speak or move have responded to the animals when drugs and exercise could not solve the problem, some staff members stay.

“I have heard first words, first movements and first responses after time spent with the animals,” said Tamie Peck, an occupational therapist at the hospital.

“These animals help patients bridge strong connections that people are not always able to make.”