Article: A friend in need

Wheel Power: By Anthony Thanasayan

Animal-assisted therapy sessions work their magic on the disabled.

LAST Friday we held our second animal-assisted therapy (AAT) session at the Selangor Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

The SPCA provided the venue and the dogs and cats. Petpositive invited the participants with disabilities. (Petpositive is the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association where I serve as president.)

The AAT session turned out to be another wonderful event. The animals at the shelter warmed the hearts of the disabled participants and challenged them to take part in the activities prepared for them.

A blind man who is nearly 50, was delighted when he was invited to bathe a canine. With help from several of the SPCA staff, he got down to the task armed with dog shampoo and a towel.

He was all smiles after the bath; he had never held a dog so close to him.

The blind man saw how having a guide dog would revolutionise his life as the dog could help him overcome daily obstacles.

“I was knocked down by a car once and nearly lost my life,” he said. That would not have happened, if he had a guide dog.

“With my guide dog, I would not fall into uncovered manholes and monsoon drains,” he remarked, explaining that he lives on his own and travels to work daily.

Another first-time visitor who ended up in a wheelchair and acquired a mild form of epilepsy from a brain tumour, spent her time in the cattery.

Although she did not have any pets of her own, she said the session gave her an opportunity to meet disabled friends.

However, the participant who grabbed my attention was a young man in a wheelchair.

We were first introduced at an earlier AAT session. He was more reserved then, but this time around, one could hardly stop him from talking. The sessions with the animals had instilled more confidence in him.

However, the sad part about the young man is that once our AAT session is over, and he is back home in Serdang, Selangor, he is virtually cut off from everyone. He has no transport or a job to sustain him.

The young man who has cerebral palsy is looked after by his single mother and a brother. He has a pet dog named William whom he dearly loves.

There are many disabled people like this young man, who are “imprisoned” in their homes because of society’s ignorance of their needs, especially for transportation.

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Lifestyle: Focus 31 July 2008