Recently a six-year-old donkey named Nestle visited Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital. And no, this was not some political event.

Nestle is part of the Mid-South Therapy Dogs and Friends, whose members visit patients in several hospitals in the region. The reaction from patients when they see the Sicilian miniature donkey is unparalleled, Debb Tayor, Nestlé’s owner said.

“Kids all smile, no matter if they’re afraid,” she said. “One man at a senior living facility held Nestlé’s head in his lap for 10 minutes, placing his own head on top of hers.”

William Kenley, a long-time friend, big part of the community and CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital, realized Nestle was not running for political office. (It was obvious that Nestle had better things to do and left the politics to other donkeys).

William got a picture with the donkey, and joked, “I am sure there would be some future use for it.”

Well, William, your prediction came true.

“It makes a big difference in the lives of not just our patients, but our staff as well,” Kenley said of the animal’s visits. Really this fits taking care of the total patient and total family.”

In the column I wrote in Memphis Medical News’ InCharge, (December, 2013), I said that I had noticed more service dogs and friends groups being formed with the purpose of helping humans.

Equine Therapy is a form of experiential therapy that involves interactions between patients and horses. The goal of equine therapy is to help the patient develop needed skills and attributes, such as accountability, responsibility, self-confidence, problem-solving skills, and self-control.

Equine therapy has been successfully integrated into treatment programs, for substance abuse, addictions, and behavioral disorders, and mood disorders, eating disorders, learning differences, ADD/ADHD, autism, Asperger, grief/loss, depression and others.

About the time that the judicial system and medical system was about to give up on a teenager who was in and out of the penal system and was on prescribed drugs and therapy, a gentleman named Tom Reed, who has a ranch outside of Jackson, Tennessee, had a thought. What if he had this young man come and visit his ranch? Both the sheriff and the physician (who knew Reed well) said, “Why not, we have exhausted our resources.”

Tom took the time to work with this young man, using a certain horse on his range. It was a slow process. The young man had been abused, physically and mentally all these years and the effort was going to take a lot of time. You could see at every encounter with these two that a strong bond was building. His learning disabilities, self control and his lack of trust were slowing going away and his self esteem appeared strong. Both the sheriff and the physician said it was a miracle.

The real “miracle” was that this young man graduated with honors from high school and was accepted into the U.S. Air Force Academy and is now an officer in the United States Air Force. Thank you, Tom Reed, for not giving up on this young man.

Now, back to the canines. There are 220 million olfactory cells in a canine’s nose, compared with 50 million for humans; dogs have long helped in search-and-rescue missions. Now, a growing body of evidence supports the possible use of canines by clinicians.

The largest study done on canines in a clinical diagnostic trial was in prostate cancer detection.

“Our study demonstrates the use of dogs (olfactory) might represent in the future a real clinical opportunity if used together with common diagnostic tools,” said Gian Luigi Taverna, the author of the prostate cancer research reported at the American Urological Association in Boston. Taverna, who is also the head of urology pathology at Istituto Clinico Humanities in Rozzano, Italy, said, “ Our standardized method is reproducible, low cost and noninvasive for the patients and for the dogs.” Taverna, said, “The results may one day be used to help develop an electronic nose that follows natures in how a canine nose works.”

The University of Pennsylvania researchers say they used a canine to help identify the scent of ovarian cancer in tissue samples, opening a new window on a disease with no effective test for early detection.

A recent article in the Memphis Commercial Appeal headlined, “Dog is more than best friend to Veteran,” talked about Melissa Maher of Bartlett, an Iraqi War Veteran coping with post-traumatic stress disorder. Maher was given a golden retriever from the K9s for Warriors; Chauncey.

Maher said, “the physical stress reaction when you start getting nervous: The heart beats faster. You breathe faster. May start fidgeting or pacing. Chauncey picks up these cues before I am aware of it. He can bring it to my attention so that I can remove myself from the triggering situation or use coping skills.” Sometimes all it takes is for him to look at her with his expressive face, including a raised eyebrow. Chauncey will lean into her or paw at her if he senses her growing anxiety and wakes up Maher when he senses the anxiety spurred by her nightmares. Before Chauncey, Maher could hardly attend her children’s school functions, go into a store and talk to a clerk without breaking out into a cold sweat. She said these anxiety/ meltdowns would last up to two days.

With the help of Chauncey, Maher has now returned to school, getting an associate degree from Southwest Tennessee Community College and enrolling at the University of Memphis.

In conclusion, why do you think God told Noah to gather two of each type of animal to go on the Arc? God didn’t say anything about two Jones or two Smiths. Sometimes we’re better off with the animals around.

Bill Appling, FACMPE, ACHE, is founder and president of J William Appling, LLC.  He is a national speaker, presenter and a published author.  He serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Memphis and is on the boards of Hope House and Life Blood.  For more information contact Bill at j.william.appling@outlook.com.