Therapy dogs visit the community

By Ashley Luthans

On Saturday morning, the Pony Express therapy dogs visited Hazel’s Coffee.

There are 21 dogs involved in the Pony Express therapy dog program, and some of them came out to the coffee shop to bring joy to the community.

Molly Stewart, a board member with the organization, shared more about what the group does.

“Well, we like to bring them to lots of different places,” Stewart said. “So, the coffee shop is one of the ones we come to. We also go to nursing homes just because a lot of people who are there had pets at home and they’re not allowed to have them…And then we go to the libraries where they can have kids come in, and they can practice reading to them because dogs just like to be loved. They’re not judgmental about whether or not you can read well. And so the kids will come and it’s kind of a non-threatening way for them to practice that as well.”

The program is an extension of the University of Missouri.

In order to get involved, visit the Pony Express therapy dogs’ website.