Peaceful Paws at Day’s End

Photograph by Jim Decker

At the Nathan Adelson Hospice in Las Vegas, man’s best friend can also be a patient’s best friend.

Through the hospice’s pet-therapy program, volunteers bring their dogs to visit terminally ill patients at two inpatient facilities. While most of the hospice’s 200 patients remain at home, the organization also operates a 12-bed and a 20-bed facility where patients receive care in a home-like setting.

The hospice started the program two years ago to help patients get their minds off their illnesses and, in some cases, lift them out of depression. It has been so successful that hospice officials hope eventually to bring dogs to visit patients at home.

“Not only does it give some comfort and peace to the patients but it also gives it to their families,” says Judith Hantin, director of development. Even the hospice’s employees find themselves calmed by the animals’ presence. “I had never owned a dog, and I wasn’t sure about this program when it first started,” admitted Ms. Hantin. “But now I look forward to these animals bounding into my office every week.”

To participate, dogs must be at least one year old and must have recently passed a physical exam and been given all necessary shots.

The dogs must also pass temperament and obedience tests and get training on how to interact with patients, approaching them slowly and gently and avoiding sudden movements or barking.

Here, Tillie, a golden retriever who wears a badge identifying her as a certified pet-therapy dog, cheers up Irene Elliott, a patient with a heart illness.