(upbeat music) - Utah Pet Partners at the Utah affiliate of the National Pet Partners, improving human health and wellbeing with therapy animals.

Anne Sturrock and therapy dog Hogan are here to tell us about National Therapy Animal Day.

Hi, Anne, welcome.

- Thank you for this opportunity.

- So you train animals and trainers?

- Yes, yes, we do.

Well, the Pet Partners Association alongside the National Association trains the handlers.

They do a online course, and then they are evaluated with their dogs.

It's like a hour, two-hour evaluation and they have to pass, there's no, they have to pass fully and they are re-evaluated every two years.

- Okay, and I know you've been to a lot of really interesting places- - [Anne] Yes, I have.

- ... with them so talk about some of the places you visit.

- Well, so the PET partners, Utah Pet Partners, visited 80,000 people last year.

And we have 73 handle teams.

We hope, we can't visit all the places we're asked to visit.

We're visiting about three-quarters of the places we're asked to visit.

So we hope to get more handlers and teams.

But we visit hospitals, rehab units, the mental health units, schools, businesses where the employees might be stressed, nursing homes, and then we do some big group events.

One exciting new partnership is with the Utah Red Cross Association, where we're helping the veterans, active service veterans and retired veterans.

We go into the military bases and the VA hospitals and that.

- Great, and I know there's a big Animal Therapy Day coming up.

- Yes.

- April 30th.

- Yes.

April the 30th is National Pet Therapy Day, and we hope to educate more people about the wonderful work these dogs do.

And we also.

- Yeah, and I know dogs that will be able to come at that day at the Gateway.

It's at the Gateway.

- So actually the, the event at the Gateway is May the 3rd.

- Oh, okay.

- I'm sorry.

And that's in association with the Humane Society.

- All right, great.

Well, you have a gorgeous dog and thank you for what you do, thanks.

- Thank you very much.

- And if you'd like to know more about Utah Pet Partners, National Therapy Animal Day is April 30th.

Go to utahpetpartners.org.

I'm Mary Dickson.

Thanks for watching "Contact."

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