Animal Angels in the News

Contrary to his name, Naughty is an example of understanding and compassion. For 50 HIV-infected children who have been distanced from society or orphaned at a young age, he is a strong anchor.
But he is no psychologist or counselor. Naughty, a five-month-old Labrador is a trained therapy dog specially deputed at Manavya, a home for destitute and orphaned HIV infected children at Bhugaon on the outskirts of Pune.

Naughty has been brought to Manavya in an effort to see the emotional changes in children by conducting special sessions in animal-assisted therapy. Given his interaction with children, Naughty has been specially trained to control his defenses and to respond to the touch and cuddles of children.
The foundation has worked with children affected with cerebral palsy, patients of depression and cancer patients. “We wanted to see the effect of animal-assisted therapy on HIV-infected children too,” says Minal Kavishwar of the Foundation.

The volunteers have also trained Naughty in dealing with the various moods and temperaments of children. “Before we brought Naughty here, we used a projective technique to gauge the emotions of the children. We asked them all to make a drawing and most of the children drew a home, which pointed out that somewhere in their mind they wanted companionship,” says Kavishwar.
Naughty has been brought to Manavya with the objective of providing unconditional love to the children, as well as endowing the children with a sense of responsibility. “The children are being encouraged to feed him on time, to bathe him and to take him for walks. The children have already started realizing their roles in looking after this new member of their family,” says Kavishwar.
Naughty has been at Manavya for two months. Fourteen-year-old Poornima, who feeds Naughty, says that she has found a good friend in him. “He sits in out classrooms, obeys commands and we like to cuddle up to him,” she says.

Ujjwala Lawate, managing trustee of Manavya, says that they were interested in the concept and hence gave permission to the foundation to bring in Naughty. “Our only concern was that we could not afford to look after him, so the foundation has taken up the responsibility,” she said. “The actual effects of animal-assisted therapy will be visible in some more months. Right now, the children are mainly interested in playing with Naughty,” she said.

Kavishwar added that the project’s next phase will have individual counseling sessions with the children in Naughty’s presence. “We will now document what emotional changes are taking place in the children after finding a friend like Naughty,” said Kavishwar.
(m_anuradha@dnaindia.net)

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