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Most days Anna Adamek sits on a couch, looking out the window, isolated from her emotions by the relentless advance of Alzheimer’s disease.
But on this particular morning in the dayroom of the Brandywine Reflections unit, something magical occurred. On this day, Sparky, a 3-year-old Airedale, came to visit. And for a single, rare moment, Anna showed emotion. She smiled and laughed.
“Seeing any emotion and calling it a minor miracle is just lightly touching it,” said Tomie Kay Davis, director of arts and entertainment at Brandywine Assisted Living at Seaside Pointe.
“We have never seen a reaction from her before, and Sparky has been to visit her four times. It was very touching – it makes your heart sink and makes your job worthwhile.”
Sparky, owned by Susan Bennett of Milton, is taking part in Pets on Wheels, a new program in the Cape Region. Started in the Salisbury, Md., area in 1993, the program’s volunteers take their pets into assisted-living and adult day care facilities to visit with residents.
Over the past few months, Bennett has been taking Sparky to Brandywine, located off Route 1 in Rehoboth.
Bennett said she was involved with a similar program in New Hampshire, and after moving to this area, she missed the interaction.
She happened to see a Pets on Wheels display during the St. Michael’s (Md.) Dog Walk, and she set the wheels in motion over the winter to become a volunteer.
“There are many other facilities that would love visits by pets, but we need more volunteers to make that happen,” she said.
Bennett said she and Sparky look forward to their weekly visits to Brandywine – as much as the residents do. “Sparky really gets excited when I tell him it’s time to go visiting,” she said. “He loves the attention, and I get a kick out of seeing the residents’ eyes light up. It’s bonding for us.”
For Bennett, the visits are a labor of love. “Knowing how much I love animals, I think if I lived in a place like this someday, I would miss having an animal around,” she said.
Davis said everyone looks forward to visits by pets. Other groups, including Faithful Friends and greyhound rescue groups, also visit the facility.
“It brings back memories of families and times with their pets,” Davis said.
Bennett said Pets on Wheels of Delmarva is new to this area - she is the only volunteer working in Delaware.
There is one other volunteer living in Delaware who takes her dog to a facility in Denton, Md.
The program has been successful in seven lower Eastern Shore counties in Maryland and takes place in more than 30 assisted-living and adult day care facilities in towns such as Salisbury, Easton, Berlin, Snow Hill and Cambridge.
Pets and volunteers chosen to participate in the program must go through a screening process, including temperament testing, said Ruth Renkenberger of Easton, Md., president of Pets on Wheels of Delmarva. All pets must have up-to-date veterinarian visits and records on file. The area coordinator supervises the first visit.
Each approved team is insured up to $1 million, and there has never been an accident or incident since the organization was formed 14 years ago, Renkenberger said.
She said the teams of volunteers and dogs and cats are more friendly visitors than therapy animals.
“Our interaction with the residents and patients is just as important as the interaction with the pets,” Renkenberger said.
Renkenberger said the organization wants to expand into Delaware.
For more information, visit the website at www.petsonwheels-delmarva.org, write to Pets on Wheels of Delmarva, PO Box 3413, Easton, MD 21601 or contact Bennett at 302-684-8826.
Meanwhile, every Thursday Sparky can be found at Brandywine Assisted Living spreading happiness – one lick at a time.
Contact Ron MacArthur at ronm@capegazette.com
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