Dog Therapy from New Haven to Norwalk
Who doesn’t remember the stress of law school? There was the Socratic method…the quandary over which commercial outline to choose…and those daunting (but finally dog-eared) pages of the hornbooks…
It’s about to get a bit easier for Yale Law School students. That’s thanks to Monty, a border-terrier mix the budding jurists can “check out” from the reference library desk along with more analytic study materials.
It is hoped that this “dog therapy” pilot program will “reduce student stress,” according to a Yale Daily News report.
In California, a different group of young adults is also getting an opportunity to experience the therapeutic qualities of canines. And what’s on the line is far more significant than a good grade.
Some of the state’s most troubled youth are helping rehabilitate themselves by caring for shelter dogs rounded up on the streets of Downey and preparing them for adoptive homes. The three-month Pups and Wards Program (PAWS) is run out of the Southern Correctional Reception Center in Norwalk, which houses youth convicted of particularly violent and serious felony offenses.
“It helps break down a lot of barriers like gang affiliation,” says Bill Sessa, a spokesman for the state Division of Juvenile Justice. “It forces youth to work with other youth – to work as a team to take care of the animal.”
“The dog has to be retrained or it would not be adopted.”
