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Pune: Under normal circumstances, nine-year-old Vishwas Deshmukh prefers to spend his time in self-imposed solitary confinement. It’s very difficult to make him connect with those around him.

But on the day that he has to meet Sophie, his eyes light up and he begins to communicate with excitement writ large on his face. That’s because Sophie is a special friend, a Labrador species dog that is brought to the autistic centre where Vishwas is a regular visitor so that it can have a romp with the children, and thereby contribute to their emotional and psychological healing process.

On the same lines, Jerry, a pug, is taken to nursery schools to educate children about animals. Quite used to the attention, he is part of the ‘therapy dogs team’ that belong to the Animal Angels Foundation, an NGO based in Pune which is engaged in this unique activity.

Bridge of love

It’s a concept developed by Minal Lonkar-Kavishwar, who believes that the bridge of love, caring and understanding that is instantly formed between children and animals can be used to stimulate senses that can trigger off curative properties.

“Dogs,” she says, “are particular helpful for such exercises because they have an image of being protectors and guardian angels apart from being known as absolutely faithful or loyal animals.” Minal is a certified practitioner of animal therapy from the Delta Society, an international organisation based in the US working in the field of animal assisted therapy.

Her aim is to elevate animal therapy to a scientific and popular level to create awareness about the health benefits of having a pet and as also help improve the human animal relationship.

It’s an effort that has begun to attract wide attention so much so that Delta Society has honoured Minal with an award this year for taking the initiative in this field as also for the stellar performance of Kutty, one of her ‘therapy’ dogs.

When she started working in the field of animal assisted therapy, she found that this kind of work was not done in India. So she decided to document all the work she was doing.

And being from a clinical background, she decided to undertake a research study too. This was probably India's first scientifically conducted and documented research study on animal assisted therapy and its effect on mentally challenged children.

Her first project along with Kutty was for such children at Jidd in Mumbai. “The results of the study show a drop in behavior problems in children, an increase in emotional expression and better motor coordination,” she states.

The second research programme was on animal assisted therapy and its effect on autistic children. This study was conducted at the Prasanna Autism Centre in Pune. The research study carried out over a period of one and a half years showed a drastic improvement in eye contact in autistic children from the time the therapy dog was introduced.

It is also seen that these children could relate more when the dog was present. Besides, improvement in speech was also seen. This study was presented at the International Conference of Psychology conducted at NIMHANS Bangalore. Now Animal Angels Foundation has a squad of almost 16 therapy dogs and two cats and they have extended their projects to various areas in Mumbai as well as Pune.

Informs Minal: “Our therapy dog Goldie, a Golden Retriever, is working for children with developmental disabilities at a school in Thane. She along with Kutty was part of the demonstration for the use of animal therapy for post-traumatic stress. Here our therapy dogs interacted with the families of the Mumbai train blast victims under the aegis of a program called Raahat Ka Ehsaas, which was organised by the Bombay Psychiatric Society, KEM Hospital and Rotary Club along with Animal Angels Foundation.”

Befriending Sophie, Kiara...

Therapy dog Sophie, a Labrador, is trained specially for autistic children and has been working at the Prasanna Autism Centre since the past one and a half years. For many children there, ‘Sophie’ or ‘Chopie’ was the first word uttered.

Then there is Kiara, a Golden Retriever, who is also India's first dog to be allowed in a hospital for cancer patients. “We have started animal therapy for cancer patients at Ruby Hall Clinic in Pune,” reveals Minal.

Therapy dog Tyson, a Boxer, is a visiting therapy dog for AIDS-affected orphans at the Manavya Foundation of Bhugaon, Pune.

Rex, a Golden Retriever, is a visiting dog for Bal Kalyan Sanstha, a recreational centre for the disabled in Pune.

Not to be left behind is Krunk, a Labrador, who has been trained as a reading assistant dog to help children with reading and learning problems.

According to Minal, this form of therapy has just begun to take roots and may eventually become part of mainstream healing procedures.