Animal-assisted Therapy in Pediatric Surgery: Post-operative Benefits

"For the AAT session, a 7 year old Golden Retriever was employed as the therapy animal. Prior to the study, the dog underwent rigorous screening although she had previous experience in Animal Assisted Interventions and was already trained and prepared prior for this type of work. The dog was fully vaccinated, bathed regularly, screened for enteric pathogens, and treated for internal and external parasites on a monthly basis. The dog and handler met hospital policy for participating in animal-assisted therapy, including documentation of the dog's current vaccinations, controllability and temperament.~The welfare of the dog was monitored and certificated by a dedicated veterinary during and at the end of the all sessions."