For nursing home residents, AIDS patients, people with emotional or physical handicaps, and even prisoners, contact with animals can help lower blood pressure, release endorphyins, and achieve specific treatment or program goals. This information-packed guide explains how you and yor pet can make a difference in the lives of others. Drawing from personal experience, extensive research, and heartwarming case studies, Mary Burch provides practical information for those wanting to volunteer with animals - from obtaining liability insurance to evaluating clients' progress. Not just an arena for dogs or cats, animal-assisted acitvities can involve rabbits, guinea pigs, horses, farm animals, and just about any other kind of animal. With Wanted! Animal Volunteers you'll discover what d difference you can make simply with your time, creativity, and love for animals.

pt. 1 What it involves. A history of animal assisted therapy. Getting started. - pt. 2. Which pets do what and why. Dogs. Cats. Horses. Farm animals. Other animals - pt. 3. Where you can volunteer with your pet. Nursing homes. Developmental disabilities facilities. Schools. Hospitals. Hospices and IDS settings. Prisons and detention centers. Miscellaneous settings. Non-therapeutic settings - pt 4. Off on your own. Putting a program together. In the not-too-distant future.