Canine Assisted Therapy Inc

Canine Assisted Therapy is South Florida's premier pet therapy organization by maintaining the highest standards possible, educating the public about the benefits of animal assisted therapy, and responsively providing support to our volunteers and the facilities we serve. 

Our trained volunteer handlers and their therapy dogs (pet therapy team) help improve the day to day lives of individuals in medical facilities, schools, child welfare facilities and human service organizations throughout South Florida. 

Since 2009, our dogs and their handlers are screened, trained, licensed and insured. We then deploy them into the community as needed. For example, after the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018, our therapy dogs were deployed to help the staff and students start the healing process. They stayed at the school for 2 years helping students fight their fears, comforting students when they heard loud noises, and just being a friendly, furry face that they could pet when feeling anxious. We were also asked to be at the Broward County Courthouse for the sentencing trial of the mass shooter, to help comfort the victims’ families.

The dogs were deployed after the condo collapse in Surfside to help the first responders who had been sifting through rubble, re-group and rest. The first responders spent time just sitting and petting the dogs, focusing on soft fur and wet noses instead of what they had seen in the rubble.

When the dogs are not deployed to disasters or tragic circumstances they spend thousands of hours working with at-risk youth in homeless shelters or child welfare facilities, hospital patients, isolated seniors and many other populations in need.

We believe people can develop therapeutic relationships with animals, crossing boundaries of speech and physical disabilities in a way that encourages healing and improved self-esteem. The intricate relationship between humans and animals needs to be considered as an important component in healing trauma, relieving stress, and even helping people live longer healthier lives. Experts in medicine, psychiatry, and veterinary studies agree that animals have the ability to lower blood pressure, prolong survival rates of people with heart disease, and visibly calm us when we are in their presence.