Young's Funny Farms Animal Therapy is a farm located in Berwick, Pennsylvania. They are known for the multitude of animals that they have available for therapy programs, referred to as "critters." Their collection ranges from dogs and cats to miniature horses, wild burro's birds, ducks, and even gooses.
On their website, they describe their approach: "We accomplish our mission by using our unique blend of therapy animals to facilities throughout Eastern and Central Pennsylvania. What make our animals unique, is the fact that we use rescues. Since the U.S. Bureau of Land Management started the Wild Horse and Burro Program in 1971, as of July 2017, there have been approximately 38,970 burros/donkeys adopted. We are the only people to use formally wild donkeys for therapy work."
Listed below are some of the benefits Young's Funny Farms gives on their website:
"Visits with a therapy dog helps heart and lung function by lowering pressures, diminishing release of harmful hormones and decreases anxiety with hospitalized heart failure patients" (Cole, 2005).
"Presence of a therapy dog can lower behavior distress in children during a physical examination at a doctor’s office and may be useful in a variety of healthcare settings to decrease procedure-induced distress in children" (Nagengast, 1997, Hansen, 1999).
"Animal-assisted therapy can effectively reduce the loneliness of residents in long-term care facilities" (Banks, 2002).
Link to their website: http://www.youngsfunnyfarm.org/animal-therapy
Link to support their program: http://www.youngsfunnyfarm.org/donations
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