Animal Outreach Programme

A pet is an island of sanity in an insane world … it can provide, in boundless measure, love and unqualified approval -- Boris Levinson

Outreach is a programme involving pets and people who visit rest homes, hospitals and other establishments bringing comfort to residents and patients alike through the human/animal bond that exists within us all.

Outreach is a programme involving pets and people who visit rest homes, hospitals and other establishments bringing comfort to residents and patients alike through the human/animal bond that exists within us all.

The programme encompasses the combined synergies of two highly respected organisations, the SPCA and St John, utilising the skills of both in a professional and effective manner.

The therapeutic power of animals

International research has clearly proven that the calming influence of animals controls blood pressure and dramatically reduces heart diseases and resultant heart attacks whilst assisting coronary victims on the road to recovery.

The introduction of animals to the elderly and to health care patients of all ages can provide a variety of benefits which include:

• Psychological and emotional effects reducing feelings of depression, loneliness, boredom and anxiety as well as motivating people to improve the concept they perceive of themselves.

• Sensations are reignited through touch, creating a feeling of bonding and relaxation through a variety of stimuli that directly effect the human senses.

• Communication occurs between animals and humans often in situa­tions where people are introverted and isolated, and where there is suffering of memory loss animals rekindle memories with reminis­cences of those with whom they interacted in their younger years.

• Exercise is provided for those who are totally restricted in move­ment where the need to stretch and stroke is sufficient stimuli to promote limited movement, whilst those recovering from lack of exercise through health or age become more animated when they interact with animals.

Undoubtedly the therapeutic effect of animals, with their unconditional love and friendship, their non-judgemental relationship with people of all ages, their acceptance of human ailments, frailties, handicaps and confusion, provide that calmness that reduces the stress and fears associated with illness or age as well as breathing life into otherwise listless bodies.

Would you like to be an Outreach volunteer?

The satisfaction of sharing an animal with someone in need can only be described if you experience it yourself.

Because the emotional experience of Outreach visits can be taxing we limit individual activities to a selected number of establishments to the equivalent of one to two days per month. From time to time your visits will include a well known personality, one of our Outreach Ambassadors.

A full training programme in workshop form is provided for you and your animal, and an Outreach Therapy Manual is given to all volunteers to ensure that a strict behavioural code is adhered to. Accessories are provided both to people and animals to identify each as being involved in the Outreach Pet Therapy Programme.

If you would like to be considered as an Outreach volunteer please download & complete our application forms here and forward them to

Outreach Co-ordinator

Auckland SPCA

PO Box 43-221

Mangere, Auckland

A representative will then contact you with further information.

Would you like to receive Outreach visits?

Rest homes, nursing homes, private and public hospitals, day care centres, children's homes and hospices can all benefit from regular Outreach visits.

Highly trained volunteers from the SPCA and St John are ready and waiting to share their expertise and their animals with your residents.

Outreach animals all undergo a rigorous testing and training programme and are health checked on a regular basis. Volunteer personnel likewise are fully trained and work to high ethical standards established both by the SPCA and St John.

Visits are on a rostered basis and are limited to encompass the routine of the establishments visited.

For further information please telephone us on 09 2567300.

Volunteering

For well over a century, the Auckland SPCA has provided help and comfort to animals in need.

The contributions made by our volunteers are of such vast proportions that to be without them would place in jeopardy our ability to continue our work to the standards expected of us.

Because the time available to devote to volunteer work varies with each person, as do the skills they can contribute, we have in place a variety of volunteer programmes to allow the selection of those most suitable.

In this way, we are able to satisfy the desires of most and because each of the volunteer activities are so vital to our welfare work, we welcome your selection of those most suited to you.