Vanda founded Delta Dogs in Geelong to provide Therapy Dogs for people who are ill, aged, troubled or non-communicative.

It has been operating elsewhere in Australia for twenty years.

Delta Dogs has spread from Geelong westwards to Hamilton & Warrnambool and eastwards to Wyndham.

It is a voluntary organisation that uses volunteers and their pets to visit people in one type of care or another.

 

Each volunteer is trained by Delta and each pet is assessed before it is admitted to the program.

The Delta training is for the volunteers to prepare for the assignments and also to ensure they are able to confidently and successfully handle their animals in all situations.

They visit aged care facilities, hospitals, prisons, schools and disability facilities.

There are one hundred volunteers controlled by the Geelong office and about 2,000 volunteers in Australia.

They make 350,000 visits per year and the improvements in communication from the people visited are recorded. About 10% to 15% of the volunteer visitors are men.

Delta Society and its Delta Dogs program use dogs as a tool; the organisation is people-based rather than pet-based.

The pets are a tool they use to enhance the welfare of people.

It has been learnt that Delta Dogs is a good therapy for certain volunteers also — especially those suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

You can learn more at www.deltasociety.com.au

Chairman JO thanked Vanda and Rosy for their talk.