Pets aim to ease travelers’ stress at Tyler Pounds Regional Airport
Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, December 22, 2021
- Animals from Therapet greeted travelers at the Tyler Pounds Regional Airport on Wednesday.
A mix of fur and feathers greeted travelers Wednesday as they entered the Tyler Pounds Regional Airport.
Volunteers with Therapet, a nonprofit organization in Tyler, try to go to the airport every year around Christmas to help relieve the stress of traveling, said Elysia Reineck, Therapet executive director.
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Wednesday’s visit to the Tyler airport included four dogs and a cockatoo named Cuddles.
“As many of us know, flying even pre-COVID was very stressful and caused a lot of anxiety,” Reineck said. “You throw on the challenges that we’re under now with travel, and it’s even more critical to try to reduce some of that stress for the travelers.”
When a person see animals, blood pressure decreases and heart rate calms, she said.
Therapet primarily serves hospitals, rehab facilities and schools, but it tries to attend community events when possible, she said. This is about the seventh year Therapet has greeted travelers at the airport, Reineck added.
Seeing people interact with the animals is rewarding, she said. There are times when members encounter someone with a downturned face who doesn’t seem “checked in with life,” but when dogs walk into the room, the person’s whole mood changes, she said.
Reineck said the impact the animals have on people is really seen in hospitals. People often are dealing with unknown outcomes, fear and hard decisions, she said.
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“When dogs walk into the room and they start petting the animal, it’s like they get to take a little time out from that experience. A smile crosses their face no matter what circumstance they’re in,” Reineck said.
Not all towns have a service such as Therapet, and East Texas is “blessed” to have something like this, she said.
“Pets have a way of reaching people we can’t always do human to human,” Reineck said. “There’s just something intuitive there, and they know what people need.”
Every animal at Therapet is a pet of the volunteers, she said. The animals are trained to serve a multitude of people rather than a single individual like emotional support animals.
Reineck said Therapet is in need of more volunteers with animals and without. To be a part of the program, animals must have graduated from the Canine Good Citizen program and are required to take skills classes with Therapet.
“If anyone has a dog in their family they think has the right temperament, loves meeting people and loves to be loved, those are the animals we would like to see try to make it into our program,” Reineck said.
For information about Therapet and volunteering, visit therapet.org .