Animals are Givers Too
People provide animals with food, shelter, and love. Animals provide people with life lessons to hold onto forever.
As human nature may reveal, there is a narrow perception of “animal services” that many people tend to have, and typically, it’s one that strictly involves shelters and various organizations caring for animals in need. However, if we dig deeper into the realm of animals and their relationships with humans, one will discover that there are in fact many other types of animal services, such as therapy, stress reduction, and guides for the disabled. A person who adopts an animal from a local shelter, and people who rescue animals from dangerous environments are indeed helping save the lives of these animals; but the impact that these animals have come to have on the lives of humans is what makes an even bigger difference.
Take Therapeutic Animal Interactions and Life Skills (Horse T.A.I.L.S.). Nestled away in the lush green trees and hills of Eugene, this organization specializes in equine assisted growth and learning, which is a form of therapy that improves emotional and behavioral issues. The program focuses on building a deeper connection between humankind and the horse, allowing the horse to draw out and mirror human emotions. Horse T.A.I.L.S. assists many different types of clients. The focal point being people in rehabilitation for drug and alcohol abuse, they also arrange retreats and overnighters for community clubs and youth organizations.
Owner Maureen Farley Waff established Horse T.A.I.L.S. on the premise of giving back to those who helped her throughout her own journey. She has been in substance abuse recovery for 22 years herself, so the ability for her to help people who are going through a similar matter is an incredibly rewarding chance for her to give back. Waff exemplifies how animals can equally cater to certain needs of humans, teaching a person valuable life lessons that he or she may not have otherwise learned through traditional therapy. She explains that each client works with the horses, performing various tasks to discover how this interaction can translate back to the relationships in his or her own life.
“Clients start out building the relationship, just like you would with a human, so that it can translate to their real life,” Waff said.
Her favorite part about the job is seeing the change in her clients, which usually doesn’t take long. She adds, “In one session, usually I can see a difference… By the time they leave, they’re totally comfortable and they’ve conquered their fear.” The ability to help others build strong, positive relationships and confidence in an environment that initially gave them fear is the light at the end of the tunnel for Waff.
Waff has a special connection to her horses, and a keen eye for understanding what type of interaction each individual client needs. In order to benefit from the sessions with the horses, Waff puts an emphasis on the client learning how to interact on their own. The horses are very responsive to people; they observe emotions and feelings right off the bat, so with every session the client is building a greater bond with the horse.
Horse T.A.I.L.S. illustrates how animals become the givers to people in need. “Animal services” doesn’t just include people serving to care for and help animals. It’s much broader, especially seeing the different ways animals are helping humans. One well-known method of how animals serve humans is through the use of guide dogs. Guide dogs can be used for a variety of reasons, but the most common is to assist the blind. Alana Schwartz, a University of Oregon sophomore, raises puppies to be guide dogs until they reach about 14 months old. The process of raising young puppies to serve as guide dogs for a person in need has taught Schwartz many valuable lessons. One thing she stresses in particular is how she has learned what is required to be responsible and care for someone other than herself. According to Schwartz, training these dogs to be companions to the blind requires a lot of patience and consistency in order for the dogs to reciprocate that type of behavior to whomever they guide.
“It taught me a lot about how to deal with different situations in public and how to care for someone or something other than yourself,” Schwartz said.
Similar to Schwartz, many people who adopt dogs as regular house pets often believe that owning a dog teaches valuable life lessons, such as responsibility. Jessica Romeo, a Eugene local, considers her dog Bella to have taught her about accountability, and is one of the keys reason she maintains and keeps her stress level down.
“Bella has taught me patience and really just to be more calm in high stress environments,” Romeo said.
She believes that adopting her dog was one of the best decisions she made, because she helped out a dog in need and she, in return, has a loyal best friend and someone to keep her grounded in her high-stress life.
Animal services that involve animals helping people are often under looked, however, are the most inspirational. There is only so much people can learn from one another, however, animals have a special connection mechanism of teaching humans and animals have the ability to form special bonds as they spend quality time together, and as Waff said, animals are “very sensitive to one’s feelings and emotions.” Anyone fortunate enough to experience the valuable lessons animals can teach will understand this improvement to the quality of their lives and what a prized possession it is to have animals around. The gift that an animal can offer and give back to a person is one of a kind, and should be cherished for the rest of one’s life.