Ramsey March 27, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 5 Grace Watters, a junior at Ramsey High School and member of Ramsey Girl Scout Troop 1341, is working on achieving the Gold Award: the highest rank in Girl Scouts. For her Gold Award service project, Watters decided to draw upon her experience as a member of the 4H TherHappy Pets Club, which is sponsored by Rutgers University. Her project is dedicated to raising community awareness about the use of pets to comfort the elderly in assisted living and nursing homes. The club members, who range in age from five through 19, bring their dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and rabbits to visit the elderly. Watters is also working to start a chapter of the club at Ramsey High School. “I selected pet therapy as the theme for my project because I am interested in a career in the veterinary sciences, and I am really interested in the club’s cause,” Watters explained. “I thought it was a really great club and knew not too many people knew about it.” She added, “The pets break the ice and make it easier to start a conversation. They (the seniors) like petting the pets and it is a place where the pets can be with people and other dogs. The volunteers become more empathetic to senior citizens. It also Future vet improving awareness of pet therapy Grace Watters and her dog Chelsea is a great club because it brings happiness into the lives of the elderly and I feel that more people would join this club if they knew about it.” Watters, who brings her dog, Chelsea, to visit the seniors, pointed out that the animals who are brought on these visits do not have to be specially trained. The animals do have to be calm around new people and other animals, must be comfortable on a leash, and must not mind people petting them, Watters added. She pointed out that dogs need to have current rabies vaccinations, and one venue requires distemper/Leptospiroris vaccines. Recently, the club paid visits to nursing homes in Allendale, Ridgewood, Oradell, Saddle Brook, and Emerson. In her project proposal, Watters wrote, “I wanted to address the loneliness and isolation that the elderly in assisted living and nursing homes feel by promoting the TherHappy Pet Club and getting more volunteers to bring pets (dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and rabbits) to these places and bring happiness into their lives.” The program is working. According to Watters, “The senior citizens are often very genial and appreciative of (continued on page 15)