Scott

Scott, is a polio survivor. I had to retire in 2003 due to post polio syndrome. But God sent me on a journey of a Life time! It started in Sept 2004 when we got our Golden Retriever. From 2004-2019 I spent 15 yrs visiting kids throughout the Tampa Bay area. We logged over 5000 hours of volunteer work utilizing my Golden Retriever. I had been training dogs for years but I turn to Animal Assisted Therapy[AAT] work. I became an expert in the AAT world volunteering in 10 different environments. I also became an Instructor & evaluator for those who were looking to visit kids. LAVIE, was an incredible dog living 14.5 years. As the Pet Therapy Chairman at St Joseph Hospital I was always looking for a higher standard. After talking to many AAT groups around the US we were ask to join only 6 hospitals to play a huge role in Kids with cancer research project. It took 6 years to finish. In January 2019 the only study to this day was published in 23 media outlets. American humane Association was leading in this research study. They needed more money to finish it so they took a video to Capitol Hill to get money for the project. Capitol Hill gave the video a standing ovation. We are on that video. I have hundreds of stories about kids & what a dog did for them. I loved every minute of it.
Today I still have Eli a 9 year old Golden.
What a ride!