With the end of the semester approaching, finding ways to manage stress has become an important part of college student’s lives. On December 4th, ACC held one of its most popular events; Pet Therapy. During this, various therapy animals from Denver Pet Partners were available at the ACC library for students to come in, interact with, and pet to take their minds off of the stress of college.
Spanning from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM, up to five animals at a time were in the library, open to student interaction. Janice Perry, one of the therapy animal owners said, “It’s always genuine, loving, and we can’t wait to come back here.” They came in 2 shifts, switching out at 12:00 so the animals didn’t get overworked, with the librarians directing them where to go to keep things running smoothly.
Lara Beckwith, one of the librarians responsible for organizing the traffic in the library said, “We have more animals coming and a larger variety of them,” when asked about what has changed in the past few years. In total nine animals were present, 4 in the first shift and 5 in the second shift. Between the 9 animals, there were various types of dogs, as well as a cat, each paired with an experienced handler.
Since its conception, the Pet Therapy event has been well loved, with various animals coming in each year. With each passing year, new parts of the event are added on, and improved, leaving something to look forward to for ACC students every year.
