By Mary Beth Coniglio
Melanie Hoover and her cat Valentino and Peggy Byrne and her golden retriever Ellie participated in this event. The students were interested in seeing how a “virtual pet therapy visit” would impact a person’s health compared to a live visit. They met in the community space in one of the student’s sorority houses with several students.
Six “Go-Pro” cameras were specially arranged/hooked up/sequenced in the middle of the room to get a 360 recording of the activity inside the room. The cat and dog visited with the students, sitting in various places and walking around the room. The students were excited to interact with the animals.
They asked questions about the process to become a certified therapy team, the differences between dog certification and cat certification, what the Canine Good Citizen program is and the different types of facilities, people and visits PAWS does. The volunteers thought it was a fantastic opportunity and the students promised to send a link to PAWS with the finished project when it is available.