Pets Alive is receiving a much-needed make-over!

By: Amy Abern

Since Best Friends came on the scene to help with operations at the Pets Alive sanctuary in Middletown, N. Y., the site has been cleaned up, spruced up and given the equivalent of an 80-acre facial. Shiny new buildings filled with igloos and dog houses offer comfy, cozy digs for the animals. Large fenced-in areas are the new play pens for the resident dogs. And last week, several animals received spa treatments.

Well, something like spa treatments, anyway. Best Friends Volunteer Thorne Delaney spent a day performing TTouch, a gentle form of massage, on many Pets Alive residents. And boy, did they enjoy the rub!

“TTouch is as much about energy as healing touch,” she explained. “And I felt a lot of anxious energy coming from the animals when I first arrived.”

Thorne started out working her magic with paraplegic and paralyzed dogs. When possible, she’d begin her session with a little romp in the sun. After the exercise, Thorne would rub small circles lightly up and down the dogs’ spines and behind their ears. Often she’d administer TTouch to their hind quarters as well. Thorne explained the TTouch method of light pressure and predictable movement works on a cellular level in the body to promote healing.

“If an animal suffers trauma physically or emotionally, they’ll ‘hold’ that trauma inside,” she said. “The massage helps release that pain and brings animals back to healthier states.”

Later, she worked on the geriatric dogs. Thorne said they loved their jaunts around the grounds and “turned into mush” after their TTouch sessions.

Thorne really connected with Kuma, a blind husky. Every time she approached his run, he’d come up right to the fence and wait for her. After taking him for a walk, Thorne gave Kuma his TTouch session, with special attention around his eyes.

“I don’t know if he ever had sight,” she said. “But Kuma really enjoyed that part of the massage. He practically melted in my hands.”

Thorne also spent time grooming Frances the horse. She applied TTouch around her ears and tail. All this while Frances enjoyed dinner! Have you any idea how much those services would cost at a five-star spa!?

By the end of the day, Thorne noticed a subtle change throughout the sanctuary. The animals seemed quieter, more serene. Even the overly-friendly pit-bull, who “spoke up” every time someone walked by, had fallen silent.

“I hadn’t even worked on him,” said Thorne. “But by the end of the day, he wouldn’t make a peep. He had calmed down considerably. So did many of the other animals. I think they’re feeling the healing that’s going on in this place.”

Thorne plans to visit Pets Alive again for more TTouch sessions. More massages? You can bet all the animals at the sanctuary are thinking, “Bring it on!”

Best Friends will be on site at Pets Alive for three months. And we need all the help we can get! In particular, we need:

* Volunteers with previous experience in an animal shelter environment to work in the various animal care areas.
* Skilled electricians, plumbers and carpenters.
* Volunteers with experience in bathing and rooming, graining, TTouch, adoption counseling and office work.
* Anyone available for heavy lifting and manual labor.

For more information about volunteering at Pets Alive, contact tammyh@bestfriends.org

If you can’t volunteer, but want to support the wonderful animals at Pets Alive, we welcome donations, large and small. It is only with your support that we can provide these animals with the life they deserve.

-----
More on helping here

The Pets Alive animals desperately need your support. Best Friends has established a special fund for the animals at Pets Alive. Donations will be used exclusively for Pets Alive and will help provide medical care, food and improved living conditions.

You can donate to the Pets Alive Emergency Support Fund c/o Best Friends Animal Society, 5001 Angel Canyon Road, Kanab, Utah 84741 or click here.

We welcome volunteers and could really use the support! Find out more information on volunteering here.

Some of the dogs and cats are already available for adoption! You can view a partial list by clicking here. Our adoption applications are also available here.

---

---