Central Arkansas Pet Partners Featured in AY Magazine
Lucy, and her handler Allan, were recognized in AY Magazine for the work they do for UAMS and the Central Arkansas Community.
Lending A Paw: Central Arkansas Pet Partners Provides Animal-Assisted Intervention in Stressful Situations
Little Rock attorney Allan Gates, the president of Central Arkansas Pet Partners, never expected to become a volunteer doing hospice work.
“It doesn’t sound like what you do for fun,” Gates says. “But I ended up shadowing Merry Zakrzewski while she was doing a dog therapy visit at the Arkansas Hospice Ottenheimer Inpatient Center at CHI St. Vincent. There was a young Black woman with an illness related to sickle cell anemia. She was unresponsive when we went in. Merry took her dog over and put his paw on the bed. The young woman’s mother moved the daughter’s hand over the dog. The young woman opened her eyes and smiled.
