“Maggie” and “Merlin” Provide Disaster Stress Relief
Through Pet Therapy at Baton Rouge Shelter

Maggie and Merlin

Contact: Robby Channell, 601-968-5135 rchannell@mbhs.org

Jackson, Miss. – September 14, 2005 - Baptist’s pet therapy team, along with teams from Maine, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, are responding to a request from the Mayor of Baton Rouge and the Governor of Louisiana to provide disaster stress relief for evacuees located in shelters in Baton Rouge. They will also work with first responders providing services in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The Baptist team leaves today and will be in Baton Rouge until Saturday.

Maggie, a Border Collie, and Merlin, a Cocker Spaniel, belong respectively to Kathy Mason and Tina Magers, RN, both Baptist employees who started the pet therapy program at Baptist. Tina works in Education Resources; Kathy is a medical technologist in the microbiology lab.

Both dogs have had basic obedience and “Good Citizen” certification from the American Kennel Club. They are further trained and have passed the Therapy Dogs International (TDI) certification test. The TDI evaluation ensures that the dog has a pleasant, mild temperament; is not frightened around a crowd or medical equipment; tolerates rough handling and touching; and demonstrates advanced obedience skills useful in a public setting.

Officials in Louisiana contacted Therapy Dogs International to request the disaster stress relief. TDI in turn, contacted Magers and Mason to join the effort. TDI also responded to similar requests following the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and following the 9/11 tragedy to provide disaster stress relief through pet therapy.

In the days following the hurricane, Kathy Mason and “Maggie” also visited with children and adults outside the Coliseum and the Trade Mart to provide stress relief.

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