Photos by Jim Coarse
Text by Gabbie Burton

Anyone with a pet can attest to the fact that animals provide a source of comfort and happiness that is hard to find anywhere else. Since 2005, PAWS for People in Newark has been offering that unique comfort through the science and the art of pet therapy. 

PAWS (Pet Assistant Visitation Volunteer Services) provides therapeutic visits in Newark and the surrounding areas through the compassion and commitment of nearly 500 volunteers who bring in their own dogs, cats, and bunnies for training to ensure appropriate and safe behaviors on site visits. After the two-stage training process is complete, volunteers make site visits and spread the benefits of pet therapy. 

The work of PAWS for People can be seen at nursing homes, hospitals, libraries, businesses, schools and to anywhere or anyone else who may need it. Though visits often include groups settings, PAWS prioritizes the individual experience with the pet. 

“The benefits of pet therapy go beyond that emotional connection that anybody who has ever had a pet or interacted with a pet knows from that experience there are actual physiological effects,” said Kate Rosenthal, manager of marketing events. “Petting a pet reduces the levels of cortisol in your body, it lowers your blood pressure, it releases endorphins, so you have that emotional response, but it does literally have a physiological calming effect on the person who interacts with the pet.

“The pet can be a bridge or a conduit to help them express something that is difficult to express in those settings, so it allows them to calm down. That kind of interaction takes their guard down, puts them in a calmer space and enables them to connect on a deeper level.”

PAWS for People is located at 703 Dawson Drive, Newark, Del. 19713. To learn more or request a pet, visit www.pawsforpeople.org or call (302) 351-5622.