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

Would love that 😊

Yet that have been. For decades.

It does feel like double standards when they won't let you take people flowers anymore due to the infection risks!!
Dogs seem to get away with anything nowadays.....

I have had a few ops in my time and on three occasions picked up an infection. There were no dogs around at any time.

All the stations with hand cleansing gel, masks and the restrictions on visitors during Covid really cut down on infections in hospitals. People are the biggest source of infection. They don’t wash their hands after using the loo and spread fecal bacteria onto everything they touch. They carry everything from full blown flu to a cold they’re almost over and don’t think about the fact that they’re walking into a place full of sick people.

I’m not a big dog person but I don’t see this as any worse than the GRIM patients and their relatives (no offence) you get on wards. The therapy dogs only go to those who want them. It’s not the same as farm animals coming in (imo).

I just find it strange that dogs are allowed near enough everywhere these days. The Christmas markets in Chester today was packed with dogs, I just don't get it 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’ve accompanied reindeer visiting a children’s ward, therapy dogs and therapy ponies all visiting our hospital. The happiness they bring, breaking up the day for people stuck in hospital, is fantastic. Don’t like dogs? Fine. Just don’t take other people’s joy away. It’s all been risk assessed.

Not outside? Golly gosh. Shocking

Well I've never met a human who licks their faeces covered bum then goes to lick someone's face! :-/ Or jumps up onto furniture with muddy stinky fur and feet....

Isn’t that an outdoor market? Why wouldn’t a dog be allowed there?

People are happy for dogs to sniff for drugs or help search for lost people, but god forbid they go into a cafe. 😂

Alpacas visited both a local hospital and hospice near me

Not in ICU, but therapy dogs bring a lot of pleasure to patients in rehab wards.

I think that these kinds of service animals are likely to be cleaner and a lot less annoying than a lot of visitors.

I find your post calling therapy dogs filthy and germ ridden quite offensive frankly.

Sorry to say this, as I know it grates on people who don’t have dogs, but children also get away with poor behaviour these days too. It’s the society we live in unfortunately. A lot of people have a lack of consideration for others, be it parents of children, or dog owners. Didn’t used to be the case, but lack of instilling boundaries, and softly softly parenting and slack dog ownership has created this delightful world we live in.

Oh God. Who stole your soul OP?

Have you been in ICU @SummerFeverVenice ? Unless you’re in a side room with specialist contact precautions, it’s hardly a bubble of germ free sterility. Every patient can have 2 visitors who have to wash their hands but will sit in their outside clothes on a chair next to the bed. They will be asked not to come if unwell but you cannot guarantee they don’t have low level sniffles.

100% of people in ICU are not clinically immunocompromised either. Some people will be there recovering from surgery for closer monitoring. Ditto those with cancer - they’re only immunocompromised in certain circumstances. You don’t speak on behalf of everyone.

If you’d mentioned a life threatening allergy in your first post, people would have responded differently. You are within your rights to be safe from an allergen, of course. If I was that allergic, I’d would 100% be my concern. I develop anaphylaxis to penicillin - and I tell bloody everyone in medical settings, so I do get it!

People are happy for dogs to sniff for drugs or help search for lost people, but god forbid they go into a cafe

Yes, weird, isn't it. In other news, I'm happy for armed response units to take down terrorists, but I'd rather not encounter them in my bedroom.

Again with the bullheaded inability to understand appropriate context.

I don’t think it works like this! You’re not going to be half conscious and wake up with a dog on your lap.

Give some credit to the staff in the wards please. Any visits will be with the consent of the patient. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill, honestly.

Not sure that's true. We took my sister's dog to see my mum when she was on the cardiac ward, he's fed raw, no-one asked what he was fed. We got permission, obviously, the only thing they asked was how big he was and was he well behaved.

He's also entire, but no-one asked that either.
She was happy to see him, as he was her. And all the staff came to see him too.

"The fact they let a dog sit in the bed and lick a patient on the face was horrifying."

Did the patient object, or did it actually lift their spirits and make their day? Therapy dogs are not horrifying to the vast majority of people and have proven time and time again to bring joy to seriously ill people and help in their recovery. I've never caught anything from a dog and I've never once known anyone else who has. I actually find your post quite offensive to be honest, especially if you consider that humans are the most destructive, pollutant, filthy, warmongering pieces of shit the planet has ever had the misfortune to host.

If only the dogs could replace the Drs and nurse eh? I'd rather be operated on by my dog. Unfortunately my dog would eat my insides then throw them back into me. I guess she's not a superior specimen

Op I'm sure it's not without consent. You could say no to a dog licking your face after licking Joan with Noro and MRSA.

Although even humans,aren't allowed to sit on the beds,of others so i agree on that.

But my dog is hypo allergenic, anti bacterial and has a medical degree so...

Yet during Covid the military were based in our hospital supporting when we were dangerously low on staff and helping with the vaccine role out, including training to give the vaccine. They didn’t bring their rifles.

Total drama queen. It won't affect you in any way.

Idc. They're cleaner than most toddlers.

My friend was in a hospice with MND the pony visits made her shit life a little better