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anuary 17, 1996
Pei therapy provides important benefits
Heather Mir T A stats
EXETER - Medical research indicates stroking an animal can
reduce heart rate and blood pressure as well as have a calming
effect. When physical contact is not possible, studies show the
visual stimulation of pet visits can provide elderly, ill or isolated
individuals with important benefits.
Roy Merkiey said his mother Pearl seems to enjoy visits
from his eight-year-old golden retriever Clancy as much as
from her son.
Tessa, an American Eskimo, is small enough to be able to
jump into bed with Gordon Whitehead for their regular pet
therapy visits.
The St. John Ambulance Pet Therapy program covering the
Exeter, Delaware, Mount Bridges, Lucan and London areas,
currently has about 20 people teamed with dogs participating at 19
sites including hospitals, nursing homes and long-term care
facilities.
The Canada -wide program is relatively new but has been very
successful in large part due to the screening process, said
Coordinator Maxine Faus. Applicants; are usually referred to the
program by obedience trainers or veterinarians and are
accompanied by the coordinator for the first four visits and then
monitored for approximately 10 visits.
Dogs are first given an official American Kennel Club
temperment test and if successful go on to complete a suitability
test. In this test, dogs are exposed to some of the things they may
encounter on a visiting site such as loud noises, patients in
wheelchairs and various other equipment. Applicants who get to
this stage must apply to be members of St. John in order to
participate in the program.
"We have had a high rate of success. What we are looking for is
a dog that is very stable and steady, not at all unpredictable," said
Faus.
Once volunteers have passed,the testing and screening process,
they are matched with a site that has been waiting for someone.
Fran Johnson of Lucan and her two-year-old American Eskimo,
Tessa, have been involved in the program at Exeter Villa since last
August. Tessa is a small dog and is well-suited for the work due to
her predictable, friendly and gentle nature. Johnson, who breeds
dogs, was recommended for the program by fellow obedience
instructor Kate Fletcher of Dashwood.
Faus said although small dogs may be able to sit in a
i' patient's lap or on their bed, people seem to get an
extra stimulus from a large dog. The program
accepts all breeds of dogs providing they have
the correct temperment. Dogs are never left
alone or off the lead on-site.
Residents at Exeter Villa hi both the
Nursing and Retirement Home eagerly •
look forward to Johnson's visits with '•
Thssa every other Saturday
morning. What started as a half-
hour visits often ends up as a two-
hour commitment.
Faus said the program has had
no problems with dogs injuring a
patient although St. John provides
volunteers with full liability
insurance. If dogs are injured in
any way during their duties,
veterinarian bills are also covered.
"We haven't even had a close.
call," said Faus.
Astong commitment is required
of voluteers who participate in pet
therapy programs because patient progress in tracked by staff.
Frequently patients who haven't talked may begin to communicate
once a dog arrives. Staff then can use the therapy as a tool to
communicate better with patients.
"The dog is matched up with a patient who the staff feel would
really benefit from a regular contact with that animal," said Faus.
Mary Brown lights up when she is visited by Fran Johnson and her dog Tessa as part of
the St. John Ambulance Pet Therapy program.
Kevin Stewart is a TV producer who lives in the Exeter area.
Producer has farm roots
KeviniStewart speaks about a new attitude in farming
Brenda Burke T -A staff
EXETER - "More and more, they're in the
category of making things happen," said Ke-
vin Stewart, referring to the farming com-
munity. "You see farmers embrace change, so
why fear it?"
It's this fearless attitude that inspires Stew-
art, a television producer known for hosting
Family Fanner, an "in -the -field program" that
centres around "how change affects the farm
family."
"It really is a new attitude," he explained.
"They make massive cuts to
agriculture and you hear no
cry at all."
Whereas farmers sought
government help in the 80's,
he pointed out, there is now a
noticable shift towards self -
dependency.
"It's not so much 'What can
you do for me lately?' but
'Get out of my way so I can
do it,"' he explained, describing this attitude
as a "significant mind change for farmers"
Raised on a farm near Ailsa Craig, Stewart,
who sees the farming industry as "the most es-
sential service of all," is happy to live and
work in a rural setting and feature what he
says is "generally speaking, a group of people
that are very easy to represent."
However, he added, because "the majority
of people don't understand agriculture" and
because "people do not understand what farm-
ers term as standard conversation," he advises
farmers to "speak up but speak clearly," be-
cause "that's the onty way farmer's voices are
going to be heard."
"It's a difficult task," he admitted, 'because
a farmer already wears a lot of hats."
Farmers make up only 3 per cent of the Ca-
nadian population and are increasingly sur-
rounded by
"It's not so much
'What can you do for
me lately?' but 'Get
out of my way sol
can do-it,'...a sig-
nificant mind change
for farmers."
rural, non-farm communities,
Stewart pointed out, adding
there are only about a half doz-
en farm shows left in Canada,
with CKCO losing its farm
show, The Country Life, last
spring.
When Family Farmer, now
aired on CKNX-TV Wingham,
CFPL-TV London and CHWI-
TV Windsor, began in 1988,
Stewart was hired as a general
news reporter by Blackburn Communications
in Wingham. He finds the combination of ag-
riculture and broadcast has presented him with
many opportunities such as speaking engage-
ments, documentary producing and a chance
last year to produce the Winter Olympics in
Littlehammer Norway for CTV Television.
His television beginnings date hack to 1979
when he began working for Crossroads Chris-
tian Communications in Toronto on the chil-
dren's program, Circle Square. While his sis-
ter was writing and producing the program,
Stewart worked with the show as a weekend
job in high school and university.
"My favorite job was key grip," he laughed.
While working towards his Bachelor of Arts
at York University in Toronto, he studied pol-
itics and economics, all the while interested in
film producing. He had initially signed up for
film at York, but changed his mind because he
was interested in more practical aspects of
commercial film. It was a media tour with his
father, who was the general manager of the
Royal Winter Fair, that boosted Stewart's
broadcast career.
"It was a timing thing," he said of the farm/
general news reporter job he landed with
CKNX.
Six months later, he was co -hosting Family
Fanner, which covers 15 counties in South -
Western Ontario.
He plans his show only a few months ahead
in an effort to "stay within the guidelines of
change." One of the show's upcoming pro-
grams will evolve around fa'm safety to co-
incide with Farm Safety Week in March.
Describing farming as "Canada's most dan-
gerous industry," he focuses the show on farm
safety issues twice a year.
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