Golden Outreach is an award-winning pet visitation program that helps chase loneliness away. The program is proof of what scientists are only just now publicly recognizing as a clinical fact: animals can help people feel and get better.

The SPCA began this program in 1990, believing that people's mental and physical well-being often improve when they have a chance to interact with animals.

Every day, SPCA volunteers take specially trained Shelter dogs or their own dogs to visit the institutionalized in over 40 Westchester facilities, including nursing and retirement homes, hospitals, and group homes and day care centers for the developmentally disabled and mentally ill.

The visits give patients a link to the outside world and serve as catalysts for conversation, physical therapy, and friendship.

Because the SPCA is a non-profit organization, it relies solely on donations and volunteers to support Golden Outreach. The Shelter actively seeks sponsors for individual dogs chosen as Outreach pets. Sponsors of Golden Outreach can have the personal satisfaction of knowing that their support is helping dogs help people. The program also has the added benefit of making specially trained SPCA Shelter dogs more adoptable.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or sponsoring a Shelter dog as an Outreach pet, click here to print and mail us your application, or click here to fill in an online application that will be emailed to us. You can also give us a call at (914) 941-2896, ext. 28.

If you are a current Golden Outreach Volunteer, please take a moment to fill out our Outreach Survey. If you prefer, you can download it, to print out and send in.

Miracles Happen Every Week
By Alice Shanahan, Golden Outreach volunteer

Every Thursday morning, a seven-year-old black Labrador Retriever mix named Spencer accompanies me to St. Teresa's, a health-care facility on the Maryknoll campus in Ossining. We participate in Golden Outreach, a volunteer program operating under the auspices of the SPCA . Through this program, volunteer-and-dog teams visit the residents of various hospitals, nursing homes and retirement homes in Westchester County.

Spencer, who has lived at the shelter for more than five years, is a popular pet-therapy dog with a sweet disposition, a mild manner and a great affection for people. The Priests and Brothers at St. Teresa's have been missionaries in foreign countries all over the world. Many of them have had companion dogs at their missions and love to tell stories about them. Spencer sits on command, listens attentively to their tales and then shakes hands with them and very graciously accepts treats. It's a great day out for Spencer and a wonderful break in the routine for the residents. They all look forward to our Thursday visits.

During this past year, Spencer and I have seen many miracles: Physically challenged residents reaching out to stroke his silky ears, Alzheimer's patients recognizing him and even remembering his name. Faces light up when Spencer appears and laughter abounds when a hand is extended and he politely "shakes," placing his paw gently on the hand. Every Priest and Brother that Spencer visits at St. Teresa's prays that he will find a loving home. Spencer and I are one of about 50 Golden Outreach volunteer-and-dog teams. Each team visits a health-care facility in Westchester weekly. Many volunteers take their own dogs; some, like myself, partner with a shelter dog who's been approved for participation in the Golden Outreach program. I highly recommend this important work for everyone -- especially those who don't believe in miracles.