Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
If you're getting your significant other chocolates, be careful not to share with your furry companions. Even if they do give you the puppy eyes.

Not a PeTS volunteer, but another society.

A PALS volunteer helped a child get her vaccine, showing that animals are therapeutic in many different environments. ❤️ And this is why we do what we do.

"It doesn't hurt and you can barely feel it. It was nice to have a dog and pet it while it was going on," says Hadley, 8, who visited with PALS dog Cali, a 10 year-old Golden Retriever, while she received her COVID-19 vaccine.

During the board meeting last night, January 13th, the board members for PeTS discussed the Omicron variant and what that means for the society.

The board feels that we are doing enough to ensure personal and pet safety during the pandemic. We are taking part in the Alberta Restriction Exemption Program, reducing capacity at events held by PeTS, and ensuring that all volunteers are following additional protocols set forth by each facility they volunteer at. For this reason, we feel that there does not need to be any additional changes to combat the Omicron variant.

Thank you for your continued support of the society!

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. Which means that people are going to be celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of another.

Make sure to keep your pets safe, whether with ensuring they aren't eating food that they shouldn't or that they are protected from the sounds of fireworks if your pet is scared of loud noises.

Happy New Years to all!!

Happy Holidays to all of our members, family, friends, and of course pets!

Let's Go Over Some Helpful Christmas Safety Tips For Pet Parents - DogTime

Are you ready to celebrate your holiday of choice? Make sure to make your celebrations pet friendly! The link below gives some tips to keep your pets safe for during the Christmas season.

https://dogtime.com/how-to/pet-safety/16897-pet-safety-tips-for-christmas

Let's Go Over Some Helpful Christmas Safety Tips For Pet Parents - DogTime Take proper precautions to keep your dogs and cats safe this holiday season. Here are a few Christmas safety tips to help you keep your fur family safe.

Pet therapy can help with the anxiety of getting needles in the arm from a vaccine. Here's one dog that is helping a child feel easier.

Luca, 6, receives his COVID-19 vaccine in Edmonton with support from pet therapy dog Cowboy. If you have questions about the vaccine & children please visit our website, talk to your pediatrician or family physician, or call 811. http://ahs.ca/vaccinekids

Have you ever thought to yourself, "Why do I/you do pet therapy?"

These images prove why we do what we do. People get so much goodness out of our companion animals and sharing that with others is satisfying and special, regardless of how many people we see.

Each of our teams are treasured. And this is all the proof that we need to continue forward.

Reminder that tomorrow is Giving Tuesday!

If you are interested in donating, Pet Therapy Society would be grateful for any donations that you want to provide.

Thank you to all of you that have shared and/or donating.

Donation Drive!

The Society is reaching out for donations. It is Giving Tuesday on November 30th, 2021, which is a day we are encouraged to give to a cause that we believe in. Pet Therapy Society would greatly appreciate any and all donations that you wish to make.

Please be advised that any donation of $20.00 and over will give you a receipt for income tax purposes.

You may donate through our website by clicking on the following link: https://pettherapysociety.com/donations/ or by donating through your online profile: https://pettherapysociety.com/member-login/ then choose the Donate Tab

The Society also wishes to thank you for your continued support.

Thanks again for any donations you make, it is extremely appreciated.

Donation Drive!

The Society is reaching out for donations. It is Giving Tuesday on November 30th, 2021, which is a day we are encouraged to give to a cause that we believe in. Pet Therapy Society would greatly appreciate any and all donations that you wish to make.

Please be advised that any donation of $20.00 and over will give you a receipt for income tax purposes.

You may donate through our website by clicking on the following link: https://pettherapysociety.com/donations/ or by donating through your online profile: https://pettherapysociety.com/member-login/ then choose the Donate Tab

The Society also wishes to thank you for your continued support.

Thanks again for any donations you make, it is extremely appreciated.

As you are aware, the Pet Therapy Society has been working on getting our ratified teams all through a short re-ratification session so that we can have our teams back up and volunteering. On Thursday, November 18th, the board of directors voted on 9 teams having been fully re-ratified and are now able to go back out for volunteering.

One of those re-ratified teams is Carol and Perla. Welcome back!!

On November 20th, there were a handful of our teams that were going through the re-ratification process and will be voted on at the next board meeting.

Please keep an eye out for a session coming up to register for your re-ratification. Thank you to all the teams that have made their way through so far. We couldn't keep going if it wasn't for all of our volunteers!

Halloween Safety Tips for Dog Owners

Make sure to keep your pets safe tonight.

Beware of certain candies/food. If your pet is afraid of loud noises, unknown people, or startles easily, protect them from an anxiety inducing situation.

https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/vets-corner/halloween-safety-tips-for-dog-owners/

Halloween Safety Tips for Dog Owners Learn how to keep your dog safe and healthy this Halloween. From dog treats to dog safe Halloween costumes the AKC has your covered.

Pet therapy making a paws-itive impact on health care workers

A while ago, we shared a post from AHS regarding one of our own pet therapy teams.
That team did an interview with CTV which has been linked below.

Good job to Ron and Candy!! This is why we do pet therapy and why non-profits or organizations like Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta are so important.

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/pet-therapy-making-a-paws-itive-impact-on-health-care-workers-1.5631604

Pet therapy making a paws-itive impact on health care workers A pop-up pet therapy session for health care workers provided a much needed break for staff at an Edmonton hospital Wednesday.

Pet Therapy Society has some good news!

On October 14th, 2021, the Board of Directors agreed to adopt the Government of Alberta Restriction Exemption Program.

What this means for our members is that we can now start to schedule re-ratification sessions again. Please keep an eye out on our website for these events. More events will be added when time allows so please do not be discouraged if you cannot get a spot right away.

What this means for our facilities is that we can allow more volunteers to start up pet therapy visits again.

Please keep in mind that we are starting with the teams that were fully ratified, then moving to those teams that were in progress, and then taking on net new members that want to start with Pet Therapy Society.

In progress teams are ones that have not been given a welcome letter, lanyard, bandana, and name tag. If you have finished your practicums but have not had your paperwork completed, you are classified as in progress.

One of our pet therapy teams was recognized on AHS's page. ☺️

It's Thanksgiving this weekend. Which means wanting to share food with your furry companions.

But before you do, here are some items that are okay and not okay to share with your dogs. Make sure to keep your dogs healthy and happy this weekend.

Pet Therapy's own Scooby will be spending a few weeks at the Citadel! https://www.citadeltheatre.com/2021-2022/the-garneau-block

SPECIAL NOTE:
Due to the increase in COVID restrictions from the Delta variant spreading, the re-evaluation sessions for September 11th are being postponed. A date has not yet been determined.

The September 25th sessions will be evaluated and a note will come out when the programming committee has determined the next steps for these sessions.

Please keep an eye out for any updates.

In the mean-time, here are some pictures from this past weekend, from a PeTS member.

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend with your pets!

Are you an already ratified team with Pet Therapy Society? We have some GOOD news for you!

We have scheduled 8 one-hour re-evaluation sessions for ratified team members to sign up for. This is a mandatory re-evaluation session, so sign up in Wild Apricot for the time that you prefer. You only have to do one of the 8 sessions.

Session dates and times are:
September 11th, 2021
* 8:30 am
* 10:30 am
* 1:00 pm
* 3:00 pm
September 25th, 2021
* 8:30 am
* 10:30 am
* 1:00 pm
* 3:00 pm

For those teams that were in-progress at the start of the pandemic, keep an eye out as your re-evaluation sessions will be scheduled next.

Are you looking to join Pet Therapy Society and ratify with your pet? Keep an eye on our site as we will look at taking new teams after we have completed our re-evaluations of our existing teams and teams that are already in progress.

Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta will be back at Muttstock this year! Saturday August 28th is coming up quick!

Admission is free, but donations are welcome. Pop on by to visit the volunteers at the Pet Therapy Society booth!

Muttstock is FREE 🐾

We want everyone to be able to enjoy and we want to give back to our community! Bring a pet food bank donation to support Boyle Street's Pet Food Bank and Veterans Association Food Bank

Calming nerves and spreading cheer! We're excited to share the return of our friends and partners the Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta! EIA remains focused on the health and safety of our passengers, but it's nice to see these friendly furry faces, back onsite making our travel and workdays a little brighter.

Rescues & Orgs 2021

Happy Monday! Have a wonderful week!!

It’s been a difficult for us all, especially because our Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta partners aren’t in the airport making our journeys and work days a little brighter. We can’t wait to see them again, and we’re sure many of you feel the same!

Learn about our pet therapy program at flyeia.com/pet-therapy

And this is why we do what we do....our facilities are so greatful. The staff and patients at Alberta Hospital presented these cards in honour of Vounteer Week.
Thank you Ron, Carole, Candy & Cayley

Thank you to all our amazing volunteers both up front and behind the scene.