AS a person living with a disability, I am fortunate to have come across many people who have rallied to my aid when I needed it most. However, the ones that I am perhaps most indebted to are surprisingly not human beings. Rather, they are the incredible animal friends that I’ve befriended over the years. The amazing power of animal-assisted therapy has done wonders in helping me to deal with my disability.

Whether it was in overcoming bouts of depression or confronting self-image issues and learning to move on in life, my dogs were there for me. This was the message I shared with about 60 students at the HELP University in Kuala Lumpur last week. As president of Petpositive, an animal-assisted therapy society, I was invited to speak – together with other representatives from animal NGOs – at the university’s event aptly named “AniHELP” to promote animal-awareness.

Although this was the third year that the public relations students of HELP Matriculation Centre were hosting such an event, this was the first time in which they featured someone living with a disability who spoke on animal-assisted therapy.

Common interest: The writer (right) sharing experiences with representatives from animal NGOs who were invited to speak at a HELP University event to promote animal-awareness.

The audience enjoyed watching a video of my service dogs in action, helping me to accomplish daily chores at home. It included a clip of my Rottweiler which wakes me up in the morning and helps me to open the door to allow me access outside.

There were smiles on their faces when they saw my German Shepherd picking up the toothpaste for me in the bathroom.

Another scene which captivated the audience was that of the same canine pushing the wheelchair towards me when it was out of my reach as I was seated on the bed.

But what really wowed the students at the end was a scene of me and my Golden Retriever in a supermarket. The canine was the perfect assistant, keeping his nose to himself, away from the products and other customers. He was totally focused on me and my needs.

Murali Rajaratenam, HELP’s senior lecturer on public relations and human communications and adviser of AniHELP, wrote to me after the event. The mail read:

“Thank you for your talk which proved that the term ‘man’s best friend’ could not bring any deeper meaning than to the disabled. You have showed us how canines are truly a blessing to the disabled.

“We never realised that assistance dogs do much more than just guide the visually impaired – they can also warn persons with epilepsy before they get a seizure attack and offer additional strength and mobility for the physically and emotionally disabled.

“I was pleased to notice that dogs can benefit their disabled owners in many ways. The most common is mobility assistance, in which the dogs help people with physical disabilities by carrying out tasks such as opening and closing doors or even fetching food from the fridge.

“These are tasks that we often take for granted. But for disabled persons and their special canine partners, these are literally life-changing.

“It was also interesting to note that through practical tasks, dogs offer a sense of freedom and independence to the disabled. Assistance dogs give people with disabilities a godsend chance to go out and engage in fresh opportunities, including developing friendships and hobbies, pursuing further education, finding a job and having a career.

“Your talk proved to be an eye-opener. Kunasunthari Subramaniam, our organising chairman, was impressed that with the aid of special dogs, disabled people can do almost anything. Samantha Keo, treasurer of the AniHELP committee, said she learnt a valuable lesson, that is, when it comes to people with disabilities, they are the experts of their own needs and it is important to consult them in everything.”

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