FAQ 

Contact us

 Join Us

About Us

AAT Research Papers

PhotoGallery

Animal Angels in the News

   

Pet Partner Minal and Kutty

Animal Angels is glad to announce the following news.

Animal Angel's Minal Lonkar Kavishwar and ‘Therapy Dog’ -  Kutty have won the Delta Society's BEYOND LIMITS AWARD as the ‘AAT Practicing Professionals’ of the Year 2007.

Every year Delta Society honors the very best in the field of Human-Animal bond, with Beyond Limits Awards. Pet Partners Minal Kavishwar and her therapy dog Kutty have won this year's Beyond Limit Award in the category of Animal Assisted Therapy Practicing Professionals for their outstanding work in this field from among more than 10,000 international entries who visit more than 3000 facilities with their animals. Mrs. Minal Kavishwar and Kutty are the first Pet Partners to be registered from India with Delta Society and of course the first Indian Team to win this international award in this field.

"Kutty is the pet of Mrs. Shyamashree Bhosle, the principal of Anand Dighe Jidd school in Thane where Kutty has been working as a therapy dog for the past four years."

Creating this pioneering field in India, establishing her organization Animal Angels itself has been a challenging task for Minal. Further winning an International Award has been a real honor and has provided  international recognition for her NGO Animal Angels Foundation.

Click here to more about the award on Delta Society Website

-------------------------------------------------------
Delta Society - is a leading international resource for the human-animal bond. Delta Society has been a force in validating the important role of animals in improving people's health and wellbeing by promoting the results of research to the media and health and human services organizations. (www.deltasociety.org)

Beyond Limit Award 2007 - Every year Delta Society honors the very best in the field of Human-Animal bond, with Beyond Limits Awards. Delta society is proud of its Pet Partners Team who make a significant impact on the lives of the people they touch. Recognizing outstanding work in this field is our way to say "Thank you" to the people and the animals that make this work unforgettable.
(http://archive.deltasociety.org/BeyondLimitsAwards.htm)

Delta Society sincerely appreciates the tireless hours of training and the countless ways in which our volunteers and their animals share of  themselves, their time and their love, in the hospitals, nursing homes, schools and other facilities they visit.

Six Beyond Limit award are given this year. Winners will be recognized in international media, presented with an award at Washington.

Profile of Minal Kavishwar as on Delta Society's website:

MINAL VISHAL KAVISHWAR of Pune, Maharashtra, India is a true pioneer, overcoming geographical and cultural challenges to create an effective clinical psychology practice utilizing therapy dog teams. She combines her education and training as a psychologist and as an animal behaviorist in a practice called "Animal Angels." In 2003 Minal introduced her Labrador Retriever, Kutty, to a school for mentally-challenged children. Kutty became the first therapy dog in India, and this became the first documented research on Animal Assisted Therapy in India. Her study showed a drop in behavior problems, improvement in motor skills and an increase in emotional expression and happiness. She has worked with children with retardation, autism, hyperactivity, speech disorders, physical disabilities and behavior issues, and worked with victims of the Mumbai train blast in overcoming trauma and depression. She also conducted the first project for Cancer patients in India and conducts workshops and awareness programs for AAT, and continues her "toughest task," to convince hospital authorities to allow therapy animal work in the hospital and cancer institutes, often coordinating this with the United States' National Institute of Health.

To read more about the work of Kutty at Jidd school, click here