From a good idea to safe, professional, and sustainable operations.
A therapy animal within an organization can be valuable, but requires more than permission to bring an animal along. Objectives, target audience, handler, environment, safety, hygiene, and animal welfare must be aligned with one another.
For which organizations?
- schools, boarding schools, and libraries;
- residential care centers and facilities;
- hospitals and rehabilitation centers;
- mental health and well-being;
- youth care and justice;
- companies and workplaces;
- coaching and counseling practices.
Our guidance
- exploratory interview and feasibility analysis;
- description of objective, target audience and work context;
- risk analysis and welfare assessment;
- choice between an internal or visiting therapy animal team;
- safety, hygiene, allergy, and anxiety policies;
- resting places, working time and stopping criteria for the animal;
- communication with employees, clients, parents or residents;
- implementation, evaluation, and follow-up.
An internal or visiting team?
An internal therapy animal team is part of the daily operations of a single organization. A visiting team works at various locations and tailors each intervention to the environment and target group. Both forms require customized preparation and clear responsibilities.
Concrete work contexts
- Office dog within companies and workplaces.
- Classroom dog within schools and education.
- Therapy dogs in health and social care, including residential care centers, hospitals, and facilities.
- Reading dog within libraries and education.
- Visiting dog for targeted visitor management.
Quality and animal welfare
The client's needs are important, but can never be separated from the animal's welfare. That is why we determine in advance when the animal works, rests, or stops, who is responsible, and how signals and incidents are recorded and followed up.
Training and certification
Therapiedier vzw organizes the professional training, screening, and certification of human-animal teams and supports organizations in quality assurance. Toscanzahoeve collaborates as a substantive and practice-oriented partner, drawing on expertise in animal behavior, training, and human-animal combinations.
Do you want to introduce animal-assisted interventions or improve an existing practice? We start with an exploratory conversation and map out the possibilities, conditions, and points of attention together.