Welcome to Maria's Mutts and Stuff. With me today, I have Janie Tierney, who is the board president, and Mary Beth Coooney, who is the executive director of Creature Comfort Pet Therapy. This interview, you're going to need some patience to give it a listen because I had many many technical difficulties which I didn't realize at the time. There was no way I would know until after the interview was over, so I try to clean it up as best as I can. I hope that you'll be patient
in listening. But they really have an amazing organization, Creature Comfort Pet Therapy. They've helped so many people with their volunteers of dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and even too many horses. So I thank you for your patients in listening to this. It's Maria's MutS and Stuff.
What a great idea on iHeartRadio.
So I actor will give you a little background about therapy. This organization twenty eleven by two women had the understand of pet therapy help people heal and risonfort and to create an organization that pet therapy, which is a service that animals who have a special glove strength being petted by stranger, being in strange places, eing environments and meet
their owners. Could be hospitals, nursing grees. We work with Alzheimer's hospice set up appointments for them where the animals must be invited to go anywhere as a service and they help people to stress, to relax, to read better.
I know most people think of service animals as dogs, But tell me what animals do you have?
So we have cats, guinea pigs, and we have too many horses. These animals go into all these facilities again, assist people in and.
Is it a limitation of time?
Oh?
Is it?
How long? The person mee? How does that go?
Is normally about an Hour's One of the things that you would look there with these animals is that they are putagy themselves sure, and the ambassadors if their owners or they're thirsty or they need to go, and they take care of that and takes care of giving so much and it's so natural in them, intuitive and tuned in.
To the people who it's amazing. And how do the visitations go?
So we contract with facilita or what we call recurring visits once a week, sometimes twice a month. We have some facilities that in years, we have facilities that have been within yous.
Wow.
Nice.
The recurring visits happen on a route. We have what we call one time visits. Stility will reach out and say we're having it, but you need this stress distress for group and that can happen just one maybe just quarterly or something like that. And then we have on call respond to an emergency loses somebody and there's a volov's need there. We'll end up there. We will come as best we can and we get volunteer. We'll take that time. And we have on call visits us to our other types.
Of visits and Janie, you've gone on these visits.
We are a team itself and my husband Michael, that is our eighty pound your all named Mulligan. Mulligan has been a member of the Creature Come Therapy team staff approximately four years. He's six and yeah, and he doesn't have a preference. We're going to work and he sees my that you know, kerchief come out front door and.
He won't eat.
Probably knows, oh it's time for me and help someone. Is there wation that really stands out there are.
A couple so one of the most creature comfort. I'm a retired elementary school principal and one of the reasons involved in this type of was because I saw the impact. And not only did I see it, but I also research around the impacts have upon literacy developers. It is proved that young children to two independent reading levels cess level when reading to adult wow. So we knew with work. Actually, from the time we got Mulligan wanted to do this
work with him. Used to come to school. We engaged in literacy on various other types of things, anticipating the impact or the presence was going to have. And as the building princes that had started the year as a first who was extremely adversile, he had extremity to the poorly run or would run into the street.
It was terriforable.
It was terror terrifying for the staff.
Of course for him.
We were standing out in front and vision this. You know, you had the principal dog and I looked at student and I said, you know, I said, because what am I going to do with Mulligan? If missus Teriarney has to be in school, I'll help have leashes that have second handled the bye bye as we get like ovidog and so we have a sliche and this child grabbed the second. Then he walked Mulligan to us and then down to his classroom every day for one hundred and
eighty days. And the child never anxiety regarding.
Amazing, and it's so simple, the love of a dog. Amazing, just that we were there and the circumstances to do that, right, But it's just and it's amazing.
It was okay because of the dog.
Life changing for him.
Of course, not doing very well. Oh that's awesome. Ray, that worked and with a happy ending. It's great.
But of course you need volunteers.
Correct.
Yes, staff is only five of whom are part time. So we do the amount of work for a very small but our main implos as in quotes. Because there are tiers we have five hundred and one. Half of those have four legs of course, so that's so maybe two hundred and fifty teen private owner and their pet are doing probably at least four hours a year, so that's about three thousand, and this is hours of them. They probably touch at people a year.
Wow.
In facilities in nine counties. How much we daily basis, I mean there can be visits a day three hundred and six of that we're attending to.
It's a lot, say for someone who's listen.
You know I'm retired, you know my dog is very well blah blah.
We do.
We have a very personalized, centralized system. So if you put in an application on our we give you a call and we talk about that phone call. It's an intake phone call, which is how do you see your animal concerned about a particular thing around and still jumping a little bit on people you with finding trainers for conditions and in general our approach we want you to pass the avoir this because there is an evaluation, but we have such hands on help to help them to
become the team that you want attend. Then from there do with what is your energy of you So maybe this is a better animal for a very quiet library or and we kind of guide you, and then from there you get to sign.
We have all these visits.
On accounts and so if you can as you can go. We appreciate the things we are careful with. Is that theist because animals change very so over that we are one of the few that actually does a reascepts.
Oh, that's because you could come to us.
And see you know having you know, a twelve year old animal, get threeen twelve.
And fourteen or between two. So we always there.
Literally a phone call away is a phone call away, So if you're having or any concerns, you call us, you through it, we can help you with it.
No, that's excellent. I'm so happy you said that, because it's really animals. They're like we are change over the years and animals do. That's excellent because I don't know organizations do a rheas.
So I think that's excellent that you do that.
Yes, yeah, yes, and always read the teams if you haven't done a visit in a law or an email from us just saying tell us what can we help within. I think that's and we also do educator our teams will have been on Alzheimer's or grief choose that they may be dealing with with them to see because they're not necessarily psychologists themselves of what they're doing. And there's a dedicationalized belief system in this in toal they really
believe in the polls and it's scientifically proven. They are producing oxytose, which is basically a wellness chemical and it is literally reducing blood sualization, minimizing actually healing your body. If you love animals, you respond, and our teams know and they saw, they see it a response from powerful many times you know, we help them for dealing with whether you understand Alzheimer's in general. So we're always there
again brain and teach volunteers. But they're what they're going to encounter it right?
No, No, it's very very important.
Ken either they can go to our website.
There's an at leaf for a facility to sign up and become and again we have a lead to help us to automate things more more of our detailed and carefully so we keep every track things.
Sure and that would be at ccpettherapy dot org.
Correct.
Where do you see yourself down the road?
Gonnis take that one a little bit.
I think that a catechismic shift these last two years post in the acceptance as an emote health intervention, and with that thea has exploded quest that we're having can't keep up with Sure, I continue to grow our volume with quality to be able to sing number of individuals that will result allowing them toysickally, emotionally or simply just to bring these face who might be struggling with a
dark moment or a bit. But I will say on you know, we care deeply about our care deeply about the facilities and the deal with through attrition, through pets coming and going in our lives that our dogs unfortunately, like bands and volunteers also board five years down the road. I do allow individuals to tribute to the organization in your capacities that may right just the joy that we even return.
No, I see that. Of course you can always use donations.
Oh welcome, Yes, yeah, I mean for those who are listening and I thing who are across the country to help out and they can't volunteer area, they can also go to Ccpettherapy dot org. CEC pettherapy dot org.
Absolutely absolutely, As Jannas said, the demand we probably get thirty to forty to some months a lot, and so to get more and more volunteers on Born four. The funding is made to continue to be a stabilable organization so that we can to meet this need that is so extensive, and especially there's for mental health in schools now. There's so many things that are that we can on all age levels and all so we're excited about the donations are important. We have a gala coming up in
the Living Legacy Gala coming out Worth. It's going to be at the Men Morristown and we started in Morristown. Honoring at that galla. Or are just lost our second co founder? This you have Annie Murphy and Joan Bear going to tell the story again this and how they're exploded into amazing organization that is beyond its size really and it's kind of growing.
And you know, somebody can said, be careful what you wish for, and true that's good though we are.
They kind of knew een years ago when pet therapy wasn't quell. Of course, it's so extensiveized, it's it's well exceptically proven.
Uh. Now it's our job.
To just get right exactly.
But the most important thing it's donations ccpettherapy dot org. So Mary Beth Cooney and Janie Tierney, thank you for all you do and thank you so much for sharing his story with me today.
Thank you very much for get a pleasure.
Thank you, and again my apologies for all of the technical difficulties in this interview. I hope you were able to get the full story. The most important thing is you should visit ccpet therapy dot com, and thank you for listening.