The Humane Society of Broward County firmly believes that animals have positive impacts on the lives of humans. It is this belief that has led to the inception of the AAT Program. Animal Assisted Therapy offers enormous benefits to people and ensures that they will live richer and fuller lives by just being a part of this program.
In an effort to stay connected with our community, provide comfort and support, our volunteers and their therapy animals are able to offer both in-person visits and virtually connect with your patients, residents, clients, and staff.Â
There is no cost for this program but donations are always appreciated.
Prior to completing the Register Your Facility form below, please read over our Facility Manual to make sure you are able to comply with all standards and expectations.
Please note that we are currently only able to serve facilities in Broward and south Palm Beach County.
We are unable to provide therapy visits to private residences.Â
Process of beginning pet therapy visits at your facility
Pet Therapy visits can look different at each facility. Typically, the facility will have a designated room where interested clients will gather and the pet therapy volunteer/s will bring the certified pet therapy animals around to visit clients.Â
In some facilities, room-to-room visits are appropriate. In this case, a list of pre-approved rooms should be made up by the facility’s point of contact/program manager so that the AAT volunteers know who should be visited. A staff member should be assigned to assist in the visitations for security and liability reasons.Â
Other facilities utilize the pet therapy animals presence in therapeutic activities, including occupational therapy, physical therapy, or psychotherapy.
In order to make pet therapy visits as beneficial and enjoyable as possible, the visit should be well promoted and all staff should be made aware of the visiting schedule.Â
In all scenarios, a designated staff member is present during the therapy visit sessions.Â
The first step is to fill out the Facility Request Form which will advise us of your interest and provide the additional information we need to get your facility registered and set up for our program.
Please make sure your facility meets the requirements in the facility manual prior to registering.
Once your facility is approved, the program coordinator will reach out to therapy volunteers to see who would be available and a good fit for your facility. This can take a fair amount of time, so we appreciate your patience during this process. Once a volunteer team or teams are found to be a good match, you will be notifed.Â
Once interested volunteers are found, contact information will be exchanged and a preliminary visit will be set up. During this visit the volunteer will make sure the facility is a good fit for them and their therapy pet. This visit also allows the therapy pet to acclimate to the new environment.Â
If the volunteer decides the facility will be a good match, then you and the volunteer will develop a visiting schedule that works for you both.Â
