DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – Seeing eye dogs and police K9′s had been as soon as the one working dogs you’ll see out and about.
But nowadays, service and remedy animals have began to infiltrate each space of our lives and you’re sure to see a 4 legged animal serving to people just about wherever you go.
One South Florida canine brings “doggy medicine” and smiles to each room of 1 native hospital.
Mona and Edna have been making the rounds at Broward Health North for the final 5 years.
“Going down the hall, you can see the smiles on the employees as well as the patients — everybody loves seeing this little dog,” Edna Stickel informed Local 10 News.
“I think everyone feels better when they are around animals,” affected person Cynthia Peterson mentioned.
Peterson broke her hip and has been in rehab for 3 months, studying to walk once more.
She met Mona on the fitness center throughout bodily remedy and Mona helped her by her hardest occasions.
“I think when you have been through surgery and you’re in the hospital, it makes you feel better and it almost brings tears to my eyes. I’m like, ‘Oh, a puppy!’ So I really believe in pet therapy,” Peterson mentioned.
Stickel has been a fixture within the outpatient rehabilitation program for the final 24 years.
It was her concept to introduce pet remedy to the sufferers. She likes to name it “doggy medicine!”
“Mona brings the life out of the patient when they see her. You know, I know what canines do!” she mentioned. “They just smile, they miss their pets at home and she just brings happiness to them!”
“Whenever someone is in the hospital, I don’t think that anybody’s having a great time, so, you know, when she is taking Mona around, people just light up when they see her,” Broward Health North CEO Matthew Garner mentioned.
And she doesn’t simply socialize both. The 11-year-old Bijon maltese poodle sings too.
With her lab coat on, stethoscope close to her paw and her canine remedy credentials, Mona takes her job very significantly.
“She walks in like, ‘I’m here to do my job!’ You know? She knows everybody is happy to see her because she’s happy to see them,” Stickel mentioned.
Mona truly follows within the footsteps of her older sister Mia who introduced pet remedy to Broward Health North for eight years, and now Mona has been working for the previous 5.
She does have a little bit sister too, however she won’t be taking up as soon as Mona retires as she failed the remedy animal check.
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