Disgusting Dogs going into ICUs at a hospital near you

[SummerFeverVenice]

Is anyone else horrified at the thought of “therapy” dogs going on hospitals’ wards and even into ICUs? I read this article and was throughly disgusted at the idea of animals and all their associated filth being allowed into hospitals.

Outpatient, psychiatric wards I have no problem with. But regular wards and the ICU?! Where infection control and hygiene must be upheld…surely this is a bad idea. In the article one of the volunteers even let her dog lick a patient’s face! Plus the top photo shows a dog that has climbed into bed with a patient.

I feel like dog worship has gone a step too far.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7w4lzyg2lo

I know they are pretty run down, but having dogs in must make it even harder to keep them clean.

Yeah I ignored them. Anyone can see my posting history and see I am real.

Cleanliness has literally nothing to do with your allergy. Are you worried about your life threating allergy or are you worried about cleanliness?????

If I am ever on my last legs in a hospital ward I truly hope some of those lovely people, who work so hard and volunteer their time and who make the effort to train a therapy dog, come and see me. If I can’t have my own dogs with me, I would find enormous comfort in having any dog, big or small, drooly or smelly or anything, with me at the end.
It would be exactly the same if I was having treatment.
So no op, I don’t agree. At all.

Thank you! 🙏

I was nursing a little girl with an infected indwelling longline one night before Christmas Eve . She was so distressed about being in hospital , in a side room , being poorly over Christmas but was equally upset because she missed her dog - her emotional support animal and best friend .
I established from her Mum that the dog was very clean inside and out and that he would fit comfortably inside a totebag . Mum and I swore her to secrecy about the smuggling to take place once darkness fell .
When I came back on duty that night she had cheered up and recovered so much that she was discharged .
The power of love , innit .

Thank you this is reassuring. I wish the article had said even a tiny bit of this.

I like dogs as next as much as the next person but they roll in shit, fox piss and God knows whatever else. They have fleas, worms, parasites etc. they definitely aren't clean to the point they should be on an icu ward.

None of these are applicable to therapy dogs visiting hospitals. They are thoroughly bathed and groomed, carefully monitored for parasites while receiving appropriate preventatives, and handled by people trained to minimize disease transmission during visits. How many times does this need to be repeated on this thread?

It’s difficult to take people’s opinions seriously when they insist on ignoring even simple information about the topic.

Asking open minded questions about things you find surprising rather than reacting with immediate outrage and disgust serves everyone better.

They have trained them to push the tea trolleys and deliver the newspapers here in Manchester.

I don’t hate dogs. As I said I have a monthly donation to a charity that rescues dogs, cats and small pets. I love animals, I just can’t share space with them.
I think that dogs don’t belong in hospitals apart from wards where patients are not very ill.

Factually dogs can be carriers for many diseases that do infect humans.
They do spread infections by licking, sneezing, and by their fur carrying germs from other humans’ hands.

Thank you. Some of the responses have been very unkind.

I was in hospital for three months last year and the therapy dogs came onto the ward twice a week. It was great to see them and they bought so much joy, we had a few dementia cases on the bay I was in and their visits were transformative.
The dogs and handlers are properly vetted, they were only allowed on certain wards, had to be well behaved and of a certain temperament. They have to meet a very strict criteria.

I’m very familiar with how an intensive care ward works. My son was there for 7 weeks and wasn’t in a coma on a ventilator for all of it.

The play therapist suggested him meeting the therapy dog because my son was traumatised and it made the world of difference.

The sickest children are in side rooms, I know this because that’s how my son started out on intensive care. They won’t be bringing a therapy dog to a child or adult who is in a side room in a coma.

But it absolutely applies to some on intensive care.

A quick google search resulted in this, there are dozens more links:

“Dogs are a major reservoir for zoonotic infections. Dogs transmit several viral and bacterial diseases to humans. Zoonotic diseases can be transmitted to human by infected saliva, aerosols, contaminated urine or feces and direct contact with the dog. Viral infections such as rabies and norovirus and bacterial infections including Pasteurella, Salmonella, Brucella, Yersinia enterocolitica, Campylobacter, Capnocytophaga, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Coxiella burnetii, Leptospira, Staphylococcus intermedius and Methicillin resistance staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] are the most common viral and bacterial zoonotic infections transmitted to humans by dogs.”
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5319273/

I would LOVE it!!

As the parent of a teen who has unfortunately had an ICU stay, DD would have absolutely loved a therapy dog visit to cheer her up and provide some distraction from the pain. She has actually participated in some official research (will be published next year, I shall enlighten you with a link when the time comes!) regarding post-op pet therapy in hospital and the benefits are plentiful + clear. Pet therapy for most kids = better mental health and more motivation which plays a key role in recovery, resulting in quicker discharge times. There has even been documented reduction in pain levels. What’s so awful about that?

Cheer up OP and be grateful that you’ve obviously never had a child under ICU care. You sound extraordinarily bitter over something that will have 0 effect on you.

Thank you for the advice. I will be asking. It is a big hospital. My allergies are certainly flagged and was on my red wrist band for the first surgery. I thought it was funny they’d written the pet allergy on there above my metal allergy and food allergies. Perhaps it was more relevant than I realised.

Dog hating threads taken to a new level with this one🤣 God forbid seriously ill children get 5 minutes of enjoyment whilst in hospital!

Makes me wonder how I survived until now.

I don't think there's any reason to overthink the order your allergies appeared on your red tags. If anything, be reassured they've taken you so seriously.

Not sure which hospital you're being treated at but if it'a Bart's, there are no animals, at least, none I have ever seen during all my time there. As you will quickly realise, if you haven't already, you will be visiting many different parts of the hospital over the next however many months of your treatment. At every point, speak up about your allergies (even if you're bored by your own voice)! Does you hospital have a Maggie's centre or a Macmillan? If they do, drop in and talk to them about any fears of you picking up an infection. If there are none of these centres, Macmillan is only a phonecall away.

OP, no one is denying that dogs as a species can transmit diseases to humans if appropriate precautions are not taken. This is a very obvious potential issue that the people who run hospitals and canine therapy programs have considered and developed protocols to control for. Dogs used for therapy programs follow these protocols to prevent the spread of disease. I’ve linked o PAT’s policy document for therapy dogs in hospitals from their website below.

Therapy dogs only visit patients who want visits, but if you have concerns about your own exposure to pathogens or allergens if there are dogs visiting other patients then I’d definitely recommend asking a senior nurse on your ward or the coordinator for the volunteer program how that is being prevented.

This isn’t some all or nothing thing. Having trained therapy dogs on some wards visiting some patients who request it does not mean anyone is disregarding the welfare of patients who don’t want therapy dogs visits or can't safely have them, and it certainly doesn’t mean any random dog is allowed to trample through hospitals at will.

https://petsastherapy.org/images/uploads/documents/RCN-WorkingwithDogsinHealthCareSettings2019.pdf

Sorry you are going through this too.
I was in for a couple of days due to my metal allergy they wanted me to stay in overnight and then the next day it took ages for the consultant to come round and check the fluid/swellings so it was two days all said and done. They were concerned as even on an ultrasound two weeks after biopsies they could see a trail of inflammation where the biopsy needles had gone in. They thought it was more cancer at first look. ( I have invasive lobular)

Wednesday I find out results of surgery - margins clear or not and perhaps schedule for chemo and radio. I know I will need 5yrs of hormone therapy as the cancer is hormone receptive.

This has been happening since the late 80’s. It’s not a new thing.

I don’t think a life threatening allergy is a laughing matter. I am also seriously ill.
I don’t hate dogs, I just can’t share the same space. I’ve fostered many abandoned covid puppies and kittens through my donations to charity. I love them, but from a distance because my allergy is my curse from birth. I would love the chance to pet a dog or cat and have the companionship of a pet, but I can’t. My DC grew up with no pets and it caused me no end of grief and guilt over that.

And yes, do think hospitals should not have animals in them. I have been reassured that the animals are cleaner and vetted to a far higher standard than a pet in a home or on a farm would be.

It’s Addenbrookes. I know they have a drop in breast cancer support centre I have used. I will add to my notes to ask about in detail.