A therapy dog named Molly was accompanied by experts to visit children undergoing cancer treatment as part of a project initiated for the first time in Türkiye.
Project coordinator Dr. Eda Küçüktülü said, "Following the results of the scientific studies on adult patients in the project, we want to ensure having permanent therapy dogs in hospitals all over the country."
Molly's visit to Health Sciences University (SBU) Ankara Gülhane Training and Research Hospital came as a delight to the children, who were also presented with New Year's gifts.
After the visit that Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Antalya Deputy Tuba Vural Çokal also attended, experts from Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine made a presentation on how to behave with stray dogs for the children and their families, using plush toy dogs to familiarize them with canine anatomy.
"Molly's visit is a motivation for children receiving treatment, and we want to ensure permanent therapy dogs in hospitals in Türkiye and abroad. Currently, we have five therapy dogs for the project," Küçüktülü said.
Stating that positive results were obtained over the course of the study and that the cancer patients were happy to be around dogs, Küçüktülü said that they shared the results with Health Minister Fahrettin Koca as well.
"Thanks to therapy dogs, our cancer patients have stopped taking antidepressants. Hence, our next step is to raise therapy dogs from stray dogs and institutionalize them in hospitals, day care centers and nursing homes," she added.
Dr. Mehmet Ali Gülçelik, the dean of Gülhane Faculty of Medicine, for his part, said: "Therapy dogs significantly reduce the stress of our patients who are on radiotherapy and chemotherapy. It has been proven in numerous studies around the world that love for animals contributes to the healing process by reducing stress."
Altuğ Çulha, a veterinarian and dog trainer, explained, "Therapy dogs are specially trained as puppies and raised without aggressive and reactive characteristics. The training of a therapy dog takes an average of two years. Molly is one of our dogs whose training is still ongoing."
Fashion designer and singer Beste Korkmaz also stated that she is very happy to be a part of this project and called on all her peers in the art world to support such projects.
