people and their pets

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waiting list, says the group, which constantly recruits new members to help shorten that list.

In addition to pet visits, the organization has a program in which pets take part in physical and occupational therapy sessions and a READing Paws program not mind being petted.

Macdonald started volunteering in 2012 with Max, her white German shepherd, who passed away last summer. They mostly visited psychiatric hospitals where Max, who could be “a very serious dog,” gravitated toward people who were sullen that takes pets into schools, libraries and other settings as reading companions for children. “Special visits” may include parades, college campus, or summer camp gatherings.

Membership is open to pet owners with dogs, cats or rabbits. Dogs must meet a set of stringent requirements while cats and bunnies just need to be able to tolerate a harness, be docile, and or disengaged “and would just go over and stick his head in their lap,” she said.

On one of these visits, to a Veterans Administration facility, a young man in a corner responded to Max’s lap hug by burying his face in his fur, Macdonald said.

She says he told her he’d been in the psych rehab for two weeks and hadn’t talked to anyone nor even smiled until his visit from Max.

“There were certainly times where you really felt like you helped provide someone an avenue on their path to healing,” Macdonald said.

Patrice Hosmer, speaker’s bureau rep for Happy Tails, said she has seen pet visits bring a light of recognition to some Alzheimer’s patients’ eyes.

She calls such times “moments of high grace, because you get to witness something that is very special.”

The retired high school teacher and East Cobb County resident has volunteered with her cat Bella since 2012 and is writing a book about pet therapy. Her husband, Gary, volunteers with their dog

Coker looks forward to the day his team can get back to visiting patients, staff members and others throughout Piedmont Atlanta Hospital.

Before the pandemic, he always tried to get to the hospital early so Norma Jean could interact with people in a waiting room before her one-hour visit to patient areas began.

One day, he says, a woman tapped his shoulder as they left the hospital and told him, “You and your dog were in the waiting room earlier, and I just wanted to let you know that your dog lifted the mood of the entire waiting room.”

Redman praises Happy Tails for the level of training and commitment required of the volunteers and their dogs.

“We just truly cherish and are so thankful for the times that the dogs and their handlers are able to come,” she said. “I think if we could have dogs here all of the time on our campus it would be a happier place.”

For information on how to join, request a visit, or make a donation to Happy Tails Pet Therapy, visit happytailspets.org.