Dr. Silverstein, Dr. Carter and the team at Heritage Animal Hospital appreciate the support of all of our Community Outreach volunteers. Donna Schmidt, one of our Community Outreach volunteers and her pet, Shelly were included in a July 2007 North Memorial's Employee Newsletter written by Bill Stein.

Shelly has been visiting the North Memorial Crisis Intervention Unit (CIU) every other Tuesday night and at each visit, she enriches patient's lives. Such comments made by CUI patients included the following:

"It was another form of peace and relaxation."

"It was a great form of unconditional love which is what I believe many of us miss in our daily lives."

"It helped me take away my thoughts of pain a little."

Bill Stein included his own personal observation: "At one of Shelly's recent visits to the CIU, she greeted a young patient with flat affect, a severe reduction in emotional expressiveness. The patient was given a handful of dog treats and told to ask Shelly to sit. Like magic, Shelly instantly sat upon the patient's command, and even more magically, the patient suddenly broke into a smile that could have spanned Oakdale Avenue."

For more information in becoming part of Heritage Animal Hosptial's Community Outreach Program and helping your pet become a registered therapy dog, contact Ellen Whiteknight, our Community Outreach Coordinator at 763-383-1559.

For more information on how pets can benefit your overall health, please visit www.northmemorial.com click on Living Well and download the article.