About Pets as Therapy

Formed in 1983, Pets as Therapy (PAT) enhances health and wellbeing in the community through the facilitation of visits of trusted volunteers with their behaviourally assessed animals. Visiting hospitals, hospices, nursing and care homes, special needs schools and a variety of other venues throughout the UK, we enable an improved quality of life for thousands of people every year.

Our therapeutic visits:

• Enhance lives in our communities by providing companionship and friendship and helps to tackle loneliness.
• Improve the lives of people suffering from debilitating mental and physical health conditions and illnesses such as Autism, Dementia and Stroke by including animal assisted interventions as part of a holistic approach to treatment.
• Improve literacy in children by developing their confidence, interest and enjoyment in reading through our read2dogs scheme

Our model of facilitating thousands of volunteers to make visits enables us to have a major impact in an incredibly cost effective way. Pet owners’ willingness to share their beloved animal with other people enables PAT to change lives for the better.