Children attending Braintree’s Mencap centre were visited by vet nurses from the Millennium Veterinary Practice.
Haley Collins and Dot Creighton brought a menagerie of pets - chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs and Haley’s 8 year old German Shepherd, Meadow.
All the children got the chance to stroke and handle the animals and watched while Meadow had her paw bandaged. Dot commented, ‘We love doing our visits to see the children at the centre and it is great to watch them participate and interact with our animals. Meadow is well trained and very calm but she is a big dog and can be daunting for some children. But they were great with her. Some of the children were confident enough to instruct her to do heel and recall work as well as the basic sit, stay, come commands, under Haley’s guidance We were very impressed!’
Tina Fitton, Play and Activity Respite Scheme Manager for the Braintree District Mencap Society added, ‘The children really enjoyed their visit it teachers them about responsibility and gives them confidence in caring for animals. They really benefit from having visitors who can bring something new and interesting. It is important that the children are able to experience different areas of society and we would welcome anyone who would be able to talk to the children in this way.’
