One Health

I currently work with a Pet therapy group in Louisville, KY. We are independent but on great terms with AAAIP and follow best practices. I was wondering how many animal welfare agencies work with pet therapy groups/individuals in their communities. I also wonder how many conduct animal assisted education together or in agreement. 

We do not have a true humane educator in Louisville, and I am a CHES through the Academy of Prosocial Learning. I conduct summer and after school programs for children and teach them dog safety through consent and body language. I do this as a volunteer and as an aspect of my research. 

I am excited to be part of this community. I am happy to see the changes that have developed over the past 40 years. I started shelter work in 1995 and wrote an early book about it. I continue to be amazed by the growth of this industry since then. 

Thanks!

Tami Harbolt

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Tami Harbolt
Assistant professor
University of Louisville
KY
WAGS Pet Therapy of KY Inc.
specevents@kywags.org
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@Tami Harbolt thank you for sharing this. Your work is such a strong example of One Health in action-supporting children, families, and dogs by teaching safety, consent, body language, and respectful interaction.

I especially appreciate the connection you are making between animal welfare, animal-assisted education, and community health. Partnerships between shelters, rescue groups, therapy animal teams, schools, and public health educators can help prevent bites, reduce fear, build empathy, and strengthen the human-animal bond in a way that benefits both people and pets.

It would be wonderful to hear from others in the community about whether their local animal welfare agencies partner with pet therapy groups or support animal-assisted education. There may be great models we can learn from and adapt across communities.

Welcome to the community, Tami. Your experience and perspective will add so much to this conversation.

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T' Fisher, Director of Operations
Center for Pet Family Well-Being
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In my experience, pet therapy partnerships with welfare agencies vary a lot depending on the city-some places have really structured collaboration, while others keep it more informal and volunteer-led like what you described in Louisville. What you're doing with children's education around dog safety and consent sounds especially valuable, especially since not every community has a dedicated humane educator. I've also seen people look up resources like PetsWelcome phone number when trying to connect with local pet-friendly services or programs, so having clearer networks between therapy groups and welfare organizations could really help bridge that gap.

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Tyrone Pierce
Veterinarian
Maryland Hospital
MD
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