SAN ANTONIO – The mission of the Therapy Animals of San Antonio has come to a near standstill due to the required isolation in response to COVID-19.
“We got a few people that are visiting by Zoom with small groups or with their individual clients,” said Linda Porter-Wenzlaff, education chair and a former TASA president.
Yet the direct human interaction, being able to touch or to be in close contact with their trained and certified therapy animals, is no longer there, she said.
Schools are closed. Hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers don’t allow visitors anymore.
Porter-Wenzlaff said so many of the animals will miss their visits and what they mean to those patients.
“Some of us have experienced folks that are waiting outside the front door when we get there,” she said. “They’re so excited about us being there.”
In addition to lowering blood pressure and relieving stress, Porter-Wenslaff said, "They get a lot of social benefits and psychological benefits as well."
A nationally and internationally known expert on therapy animals, she taught multi-disciplinary courses on the subject as UT Health clinical professor.
Now retired, Porter-Wenslaff, who is also was a registered nurse, trained as an advanced practice nurse in pediatrics.
“My clinical area of focus was children with cancer. It was working with them and seeing how much they missed the one family member who could not visit them during their many long hospitalizations that got me engaged in animal therapy," she said.
Until more than 80 TASA teams are able to fully resume their work, Porter-Wenslaff said those doing critical response stand ready in case of a violent or catastrophic event.
She said TASA also is planning for the future.
“We will start with one-on- one visits where it’s appears safe to do that and we’ll move forward,” she said. “We’ll be back out there as soon as we can be.”