Humane Society of Broward County

Animal Assisted Therapy and Service Dogs
Animal Assisted Therapy dogs are used to provide comfort and unconditional love to people in nursing homes, hospitals, rehabilitation centers and children's homes. These very special dogs help to de-institutionalize a facility and give it a more natural home-like environment.

Service dogs aid the deaf, blind and disabled. They help people to complete tasks that they normally could not accomplish on their own such as walking, cooking, turning on a light, hearing a knock at the door, etc.

Search & Rescue Dogs:

War Dogs
Since Egyptian Roman times, dogs have served in wars. Their instincts, keen senses, the desire to protect their “pack” and the ability to fight have served us well on battlefields. Military dogs perform many jobs in war. They are sentries on guard duty, alerting their handlers to strangers or attacking on command.

Search and Rescue dogs aid in finding people in disasters such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and bomb explosions. Search and Rescue dogs are trained to pick up scents in the air and on the ground to find missing people. Dozens of search and rescue teams (dog and human) worked tirelessly at the World Trade Center and Pentagon sites after the attack on September 11th.

Kids Reports (continued)

Police Dogs:
Police officers get their dogs as puppies and raise them as part of their families. The canine cop, after months of training becomes an official patrol dog. Police dogs are taught to growl and attack on command. They learn to catch and hold a fleeing suspect. Police dogs are also taught to track the smell of humans in the air, on the ground and even off the water.

Guide Dogs for the Blind, Deaf, and Disabled
In 1928, a German Shepherd named Buddy became the first Seeing Eye Dog. People discovered that dogs could provide services to people who are blind, deaf or disabled. These dogs perform an enormous range of tasks and require extensive training. Some of these tasks are helping someone to walk, turning on lights, alerting a person when they hear a noise, opening a door, carrying items in their mouths, etc.

Animal Assisted Therapy Dogs:
The Humane Society of Broward County has an extensive Animal Assisted Therapy Program. Our Animal Assisted Therapy dogs and owners visit many different facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes, children’s facilities, and schools. The use of Animal Assisted Therapy dogs is to bring smiles and love to people and to teach people about proper pet care and responsibility.

Seizure Dogs:
Very special dogs with no particular training have been able to predict when their owners are about to seizure. These incredible dogs have saved many lives as a result. Recently, other dogs have been able to detect cancer in certain individuals.

Kids you may also call the Humane Society at 954.266.6848 to have a package of information sent to you.