$5,400 ReuthRebuilds AnimalFriends
Animal-Assisted Therapy
Animal-assisted therapy is a unique service and intervention offered by the Children’s Department of Reuth. Even the most compromised child patients on ventilator support in the Intensive Care Unit receive this treatment from a professional therapist, mediated by animals such as guinea pigs, rabbits, and turtles. The children’s positive responses to the stimulation – wonder, excitement, pleasure, and happiness -- can be gauged by measurements of their vital body signs. Some children even begin to move their very stiff arms and legs. Animal interventions are an innovative treatment modality that facilitates physical, cognitive, and emotional development in many children.