Helping Paws International is another group that is new to Spring Fling and we are so excited to have them! They hope to meet interested volunteers and their pets who want to join them as therapy animals teams, reading assistance animals, and special needs interventions dogs.
This group is an all volunteer non-profit, consisting of people and their service and therapy animals, that brings pet therapy to a wide range of people who need it. They originally formed in 2000, a group of greyhound owners who were inspired by the gentle and loving temperaments of their rescued greyhounds. Helping Paws International is mostly comprised of greyhounds and their people but they accept all types of dogs over one year of age with the correct temperament for this work.
"Our purpose is to assist healthcare as well as other facilities and individuals to improve the quality of life for patients and staff by providing therapeutic pet-human interaction.
Our goals: 1) Lift the hearts & spirits of those needing emotional support; 2) expand the minds & futures of children through literacy; 3) support a patient’s physical, speech, or occupational therapy goals; 4) promote the healing power of animals; 5) support & promote greyhound & pet rescue; 6) prove rescues have value & can contribute positively to their communities; 6) to provide service animals free of charge as a training program permits"
In addition to the traditional therapy work in healthcare facilities, Helping Paws International has a reading assistance program, for both children and for adults re-learning how to read and speak, and trains assistance dogs to perform tasks for individuals that need them.
Make sure to stop by their booth and say hi! You can keep up with Helping Paws International on their website and social media channels: Facebook (their general profile, the one for their therapy greyhounds) and Instagram.