Tails | Winter 2019

New kennels for Mayhew dogs

In September, we were delighted to officially open our new kennels after a five-month renovation project. The previous kennels were over 20 years old and due for an upgrade, and the refurbished space provides a warm, light-filled environment that is safer and more suitable for our animals and staff.

In addition to air-conditioning and new flooring, each kennel now has more natural light and features a mix of frosted and clear glass, so that dogs are able to see staff and visitors properly but can be shielded from each other. There is more personal space for each dog, toys and sensory enrichment items such as essential oil diffusers, and also radios and TVs to mimic a home environment as much as possible.

Old kennels during renovation

New kennels

Kennels opening, where guests included actors Sue Jameson and Lesley Nicol .

This new and improved space will benefit not only the dogs in our care, but also those who work with them. The positive impact of our upgraded kennels, which include a new intake area and updated staff premises, will be felt across the board by our Animal Welfare Officers, Kennels and Adoption team and all of the students and volunteers who enable Mayhew to help hundreds of animals and people in need.

New research proves benefits of the human – animal bond

Mayhew’s dog therapy programme TheraPaws works to improve mental, physical and emotional wellbeing in our local community. As part of the programme, our trained team of volunteers takes their therapy dogs into care and residential homes, hospitals, hospices and day centres across London, brightening up residents’ days with weekly or fortnightly visits.

Our TheraPaws staff and trained volunteers see the difference that dog therapy makes to individuals on a daily basis, but we were keen to work with academic researchers to look deeper into this. Earlier this year, we undertook a three-month research project with Middlesex University to assess the impact of TheraPaws sessions on elderly people in a care home.

Over a 12-week period, a team from Middlesex University joined TheraPaws sessions at four London care homes to see the effect our four-legged therapists had on residents. They discovered that spending time with Mayhew’s therapy dogs improved the general mood of residents and carers in each care home and encouraged more conversations between the two groups. This in turn enabled carers to get to know the residents better and helped build more open and positive relationships between them: in short, creating happier care homes! The study also revealed a 12% increase in the ‘quality of life’ of residents over the 12-week period, with 58% of residents saying that the dog visits made them feel ‘very happy’.

A huge 63% of residents also said that they ‘very much enjoyed’ the TheraPaws visits, and the same percentage actively looked forward to the sessions each week.

Volunteers told researchers that the physical contact and sensory stimulation that the dogs provided for the residents was just as important as the emotional impact, particularly for residents with cognitive and physical impairments such as blindness or deafness.

Therapy dogs are able to react and respond individually to people based on their own unique needs – for example, they can be calm and still if a person requires comfort and reassurance, or they can be more active with a person who wishes to pet and play with them. This enables each resident to engage with the dog in a way that is meaningful to them. Middlesex University’s findings prove that dogs have clear therapeutic value, and we now have scientific evidence to show that interaction with a dog reduces loneliness, improves mood, encourages interpersonal communication and provides a sense of community and companionship.

The research also reveals that dogs can help to bridge the gap between vulnerable people and their support network, enhancing quality of life, meeting basic care needs and raising peoples’ general standard of living. The findings establish beyond a doubt that animals have a transformative role in society – a belief that already guides all the work Mayhew does to promote and protect the human–animal bond, from our low-cost Community Vet Clinic to our animal welfare work in the community.

As awareness of the importance of our TheraPaws programme spreads, we are really excited to see what the future holds.