Images supplied by the Delta Society for use by the Department of Communities and Justice.
Delta Society Australia is a national not-for-profit organisation with one core belief: that the human-animal bond remarkably improves our quality of life. Delta Therapy Dogs is a heart-warming program that brings the joys and comfort of animal companionship to those who need it most.
Delta Therapy Dog teams conduct regular weekly or fortnightly visits to local health care and welfare facilities to offer the wonderful benefits of pet therapy, spend time with patients and offer a chat, a floppy ear to listen and a paw to shake. Delta Therapy Dog teams are made up of a volunteer and their pet dog which has undergone a temperament assessment to ensure they are suitable for the program.
Heather and Riley
Delta volunteer Heather Hanly and her 8 year old golden retriever Riley have been visiting residents at Mullauna Village once a week for the past 3 years. Each visit starts with greeting the card and domino players in the tea room, then heading off to visit residents in their rooms. The number of residents varies each week but Heather and Riley love to stop for a chat and pat with each one.
Image supplied by the Delta Society for use by the Department of Communities and Justice.
Riley has made many special friends over the years at Mullauna, amongst them Tom who gives the best belly rubs, Dot whose bed is exactly the right height so Riley can join her for a cuddle, June who is a cat person but Riley slowly won her over, and John with the much anticipated stash of biscuits.
Riley loves her visits to Mullauna Village. She is up pacing around in anticipation an hour before leaving the house and leaps out of the car to the entrance. Riley was a rescue dog who was surrendered because she kept escaping from her previous owners, but now she has definitely found a place she loves to be.
To find out more about volunteering with Delta Therapy Dogs, watch a video of the assessment process, and fill out an application, please visit deltatherapydogs.org.au.