Health Draper Love your pet day

For four-legged fun and to help a good cause, the Creekside Animal Hospital will host the first "Love Your Pet Day" Feb. 16. The event will offer a wide variety of activities for pets and their owners. Funds raised through event activities and donations will support Intermountain Therapy Animals.

"We want to promote healthier pets in the community. All pets are welcome," said Anna Johnson, of the Creekside Animal Hospital, "not just dogs or cats" but iguanas, birds, any type of exotic or small animals, including reptiles, snakes, lizards, chinchillas and sugar gliders.
"We can accommodate anything but a horse," Johnson said.

Love Your Pet Day activities will include a free 10- to 15-minute general check-up/wellness exam by one of the in-house veterinarians. Mini-classes about dog training will be taught throughout the event by behavior consultants, who will also be available to answer questions.

"It's going to be a lot of fun," Johnson said.

Pets and their owners who may be twins separated at birth can be winners of the pet look-a-like contest. Other activities will include a pet fashion show and 'best pet trick' competition. Prizes include pet toys and food, gift certificates for Animal Hospital services and local businesses. A photographer will be at the event to take free pictures of owners with their pets.

The Creekside Animal Hospital is supporting Intermountain Therapy Animals with funds raised at the event. Intermountain Therapy Animals (ITA) is a Utah non-profit that serves recovering patients through animal therapy.

Fundraising activities at the Love Your Pet Day event will include the Animal Spa, where pets can get their hair done, nails painted, and be embellished with a glitter spray.

The board for the Healthy Draper committee came up with the idea for love your pet day during a brainstorming session. "Last year we did a health screening for people and handed out pedometers" said Jennifer Reben, program event administrator for Healthy Draper. Health Draper is a non-profit organization geared towards healthy businesses and healthy people, and does four events per year promoting health in the community. "We decided animal health would also fit into this realm" says Reben.

ITA was founded in 1993 and is just starting its 15th year. The organization boasts 300 pet/owner volunteers; they lead the nation in numbers of volunteers. Each volunteer is trained to help patients with a variety of health challenges, and their dogs have to pass obedience tests and be declared healthy by a vet. The next step is to match the type of dog with the patients needs.

Volunteers frequently work at Utah's hospitals, including the intensive care unit, elderly care centers, eating disorder clinics, disability centers and schools for the deaf and blind.

"Animals spread a lot of happiness" says Kathy Klotz, executive director of ITA "But there is also a lot of therapeutic value; they help lower blood pressure and kids who have been abused feel loved and can learn to trust." continues Klotz. "In rehab therapy patients think they are just playing with an animal, but it's actually helping them getting better."

The Creekside Animal Hospital is located at 12720 Express Road in Draper. The event will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more details on ITA visit ww.therapyanimals.org