| | resident ANIMALS
Resident animals are companion animals that have been specifically
selected to live full-time within facilities. Resident animals can fall
into two categories: Those that will physically interact with participants
("touchable"); and those which will not physically interact with
participants ("not-touchable").
Successful Resident Animal Programs require considerable preplanning
and staff involvement to ensure animal and participant safety and quality of
life. Only comprehensive policies and procedures can address appropriate
animal selection, staff responsibilities and participants' needs. When
adding resident animals to a facility without animals, it is necessary to assess
and respect the opinions and preferences of current participants and staff
members.
Appropriate resident animals harmonize with a facility. They enhance
the quality of everyday life through beneficial interactions and safe
spontaneity.
"touchable" ANIMALS
Touchable animals include domesticated companion animals like dogs, cats,
rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, and chickens. Touchable animals must be
trained or conditioned for appropriate and safe interactions with humans.
They must exhibit specific skills and people-oriented temperaments; minimally,
they should meet the same criteria (health, skills, and aptitude) as visiting
animals. Touchable animals never hide in a facility - they seek out human
contact.
"not-touchable" ANIMALS
Animals which are "not-touchable" include fish in aquariums and
birds in aviaries or cages. These companions enhance a facilities'
atmosphere and provide pleasing visual and mental stimulation for their human
friends. These animals may or may not be "people-oriented"
and are selected for their ability to thrive with little maintenance.
Not-touchable animals may be screened only for health - therefore they
should never be handled by residents.
resident animal FAILURE
Ten reasons that Resident Animal programs fail:
 | Animal, selected on a whim; was not suitable for
this type of work |
| Unscreened/untrained animal performs unacceptable
behavior |
| Animal ignores Residents |
| Animal repeatedly runs away |
| Unsupervised animal destroys something important |
| Staff/Residents lose interest in animal |
| Animal becomes ill/obese from eating foreign
objects/foods |
| Care of animal’s needs was not assigned as a work
duty |
| Staff attitudes sabotage animal |
| No human took the time to implement a plan for
success: policies and procedures; animal selection criteria; facility
inservices and education; and ongoing animal training. |
Prepare your facility, prepare your staff, prepare the
paperwork — then begin looking for your perfect
resident animal!
resident animal
SUCCESS
Is your facility ready for a resident animal? Before beginning your animal
search, you must have the answers to these important questions about the
animal, your staff, your clients and the costs.
The Animal
| What type of animal is most appropriate to your facility
and your resources? |
| Is funding available for the purchase and upkeep of the
animals? (including food, housing, veterinary care, licensing, etc.) |
| What criteria will be utilized to determine an animal's
appropriateness for your facility? |
| What internal measures will be utilized to monitor and
evaluate the animal's ongoing appropriateness? |
| What ongoing training/conditioning will the animal require
- who will accomplish it? |
| What will happen if a specific animal does not work
out? Where does the animal go? |
| Who is responsible for the animal during each and every
shift? |
| Where will the animal be housed? |
| Where will the animal defecate? |
| If the animal must be walked to an exercise area, by whom?
how often? How does the animal indicate it has to potty at an
unscheduled time? |
| Who is responsible for cleaning up accidents indoors? |
| Will the animal be allowed to wander - or will a specified
staff handler direct interactions at specific times? If animal
wanders, how will it be kept from restricted or dangerous areas? |
| If the animal wanders, how will facility exits be modified
to keep animal from slipping outdoors unsupervised? |
| How frequently will the animal be: bathed; brushed or
combed; nails trimmed and filed; ears cleaned; teeth brushed; screened for
internal parasites; and examined for external parasites? |
| Who is responsible for feeding and watering the
animal? Is water available throughout the day? (no drinking from
toilets, please!) |
| If animal steps in urine/vomit/blood/saliva what protocols
need to be followed? (If animal wanders, how will you know?) |
| Is it acceptable that the animal may lick (clean up) a
resident, their clothing, their equipment? |
| How will you control the animal from developing
"favorites" and explain it to those who are not? |
Your Staff
| Are any staff members opposed to having animals? Can
their concerns be mitigated? How will they be resolved? |
| Will additional staff need to be hired to properly care for
and monitor the animals and/or the interactions? |
| Will existing staff be required to add animal related
duties? How will the be recompensed? |
| Do any current staff members have health contraindications
(skin allergies, inhalant allergies, asthma, phobias) that would be
compromised by working in an environment with animals? |
| Will new hires be required to be animal-oriented without
health contraindications? |
| If a current employee develops an allergy to the animal,
how will this be dealt with? |
| How will staff members be educated to animal behavior and
appropriate and inappropriate animal behaviors? |
| Would your facility benefit from the assistance of an
outside animal consultant? |
| How will you encourage staff members to come forward with
animal problems when they may be adverse to "getting the animal in
trouble?" |
Your Residents/Participants and their Families
| Do any current residents/participants have health
contraindications against this type of animal - how will their right to
privacy and health be maintained? |
| If a resident develops health contraindications that are
compromised by an animal's presence, what will be done? What if the
family disagrees with your solution? |
| How will all concerns from family members be
addressed? By whom? |
| How will accusations of scratches, parasites, and animal
bites by residents/participants or their family members be addressed? |
| How will residents be kept from feeding the animal
inappropriate foods or medications? |
| How will everyone feel if their personal pets are no longer
permitted to visit because they may exhibit unsafe behaviors in the presence
of the resident animals? |
The Costs
| Animal upkeep including costs of food (special diets when
necessary), housing (crate, kennel, fencing), veterinary care (emergency
care too), special training by animal specialist, licensing, etc. |
| Additional salaries to offset new staff or additional
duties related to animal. |
| Continuing education costs for staff including books,
journals and conferences or courses related to resident animal. |
| Capital costs where physical changes to the facility
environment are required to ensure animal safety and well-being. |
Yes,
you can improve quality of life through access to the rewards of animal
companionship - but it will require time, effort and money.
|
creating beneficial human-animal
interactions