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Saturday 9th July 2005,
13:00-15:30
Hyogo Animal well-being center
Hyogo Animal well-being center / NPO Knots
Nestle Purina PetCare
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Dr. Kathy Klotz, Executive Director of the US-based NPO ‘Intermountain
Therapy Animals Inc.’ was invited to Japan to give this year’s
Special Lecture. Dr. Klotz also gave the Keynote Speech at the
2005 Live Love Animals International Symposium, organized by NPO
Knots, and introduced case studies from the R.E.A.D. Program.
 Dr.
Klotz was introduced to the audience by Mr. Sugihara from Hyogo
Prefectual Government
Health,Welfare & Environmental Services Department Public Health Bureau Public
Health & Sanitation Division.
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 Dr.
Klotz explained about the R.E.A.D. (Reading Educational Assistance
Dogs) Program operated by Intermountain Therapy Animals Inc.
Intermountain Therapy Animals Inc. was founded with an aim to raise
quality of life through people and animal interactions, or the ‘human
animal bond’, and to bring therapeutic activities into facilities
such as hospitals and to take R.E.A.D program dogs into libraries
and schools running the program.
The basic objective of the R.E.A.D. program is to introduce children
to the joy of reading books through the example of children reading
to dogs, thereby raising literacy levels, and also to help children
improve their communication skills.
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 There
are basically two kinds of visit activity; the AAA (Animal Assisted
Activity) which aims to improve the ability of the individual involved
and to enable recreation time, etc., and the AAT (Animal Assisted
Therapy) which seeks to recover or improve the physical and social
function of the individual according to a more structured plan
drawn up from the collaboration of specialists and medical professionals.
The program also includes evaluations of the progress made and
the results.
The R.E.A.D. program which Dr. Klotz talked about is an example
of an AAT (Animal Assisted Therapy) activity. Programs are carefully
planned out for each individual child, levels are assessed and
results evaluated. Each program involves a joint effort by R.E.A.D.
dogs, their owners, educational professionals and one or more experts
from whatever specialist field is needed.
For an animal to be qualified as
a R.E.A.D. dog, in addition to achieving 21 points in the Delta
Association Pet Partners Test, the dog needs to exhibit certain
other characteristics, such as a kind nature and the ability not
to panic in a stressful environment. Only after meeting all these
requirements can the dog participate in the team.
Owners of the dogs themselves also become members and they too
must have certain qualities such as a love of children and ability
to get on well with children.
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 Serving
as a case study of the R.E.A.D. Program, the Benion Elementary
School program in Salt Lake City was introduced. In this program,
one to one sessions were conducted once a week, having determined
each child’s target level, using suitable reading materials in
a calm and comfortable environment. After 16 months (1 year plus
the summer vacation) the reading abilities of the children had
improved dramatically. They had also developed greater self-esteem,
with some showing personal initiative and helping the other children.
Some children began to take books out from the library and had
improved their reading ability by 2 years.
There were other gains too. Having learned that their dogs had had
their teeth brushed and had been washed before coming to the school,
the children became more conscious of teeth brushing. They became
far better kempt and their hygiene standards improved remarkably.
Such encouraging results are possible because
of careful and detailed planning accompanied up by proper evaluation.
When children reach a certain level, they are given fun prizes
to bring even more enjoyment into the program. For example they
were given a paw print of the R.E.A.D. dogs, or bone-shaped bookmarks,
as well as R.E.A.D. dog picture stickers and cards. The important
point is that the children participating in the program do have
fun. The dogs accept the children as they are and provide them
with a supporting influence.
 Currently
there are 600 R.E.A.D. teams operating in 44 states of the USA
and Canada.
Sixty nine people attended this special lecture, coming from various prefectures
around Japan, and they all listened attentively. The question and answers session
afterwards attracted questions from multiple fields. One was a question about
the kind of test used for qualifying R.E.A.D. dogs. Others included allergy
related issues in the human animal bond. Dr. Klotz answered all questions with
sincere consideration.
While the time was limited, this was an extremely fruitful and informative
lecture.
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