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Andrea Gayer, left, and Rebecca Johnson pose with Missouri
mules Terry, left, and Tim. They introduced the mules to
residents of TigerPlace. Trish Gayer photo
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Animal
Attraction
MU student mulish about the value
of animal-human interaction
By Marcia Vanderlip
When Missouri mules Tim and Terry came to
meet residents at TigerPlace
last Wednesday, Andrea Gayer was snapping photos for her memory
scrapbook.
The pair was on loan from the Missouri
Mule Club at the College
of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The scrapbook is for a college project that is close to Gayer’s
heart.
Since January, Gayer, 22, has arranged for a menagerie of animals
to visit the retirement and independent living facility. The MU
senior — studying human
development and family studies — calls her project PAWSitive
Visits. She aims to lift some human spirits and raise awareness
about the physical and emotional benefits of animal-human bonding.
Gayer, a veterinary technician at Rolling Hills Veterinary Hospital,
Columbia, wanted to do a senior project that integrated her love
for animals with her academic major. Her internship adviser, Rebecca
Johnson, director of MU’s College of Veterinary Medicine’s
Research
Center for Animal Interaction, steered her toward the Tiger
Place Pet Program Initiative, or TiPPI.
TiPPI is a 2-year-old program operated by
MU’s Sinclair School of Nursing and College of Veterinary
Medicine. It provides the older adults at the pet-friendly independent
living facility with a veterinary clinic. It also provides low-cost
pet food and an endowment to help find new homes for TigerPlace
residents’ pets that are orphaned.
Gayer has been coordinating weekly animal
visits to residents at TigerPlace since January. Seniors who range
in age from 83 to 95 have met three dogs and a cat. Future guests
include a pot-bellied pig, a horse named Gretchen and birds from
MU’s Raptor
Rehabilitation Project. Smaller creatures are invited into
the facility’s common living room. Larger animals, like
Tim and Terry, greet residents in the parking lot.
TigerPlace resident George Black visits with Mackenzie, a Gordon Setter
puppy. Andrea
Gayer photo
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PAWSitive Visits has been “positive”
for many of the 35 residents, said Charles Servey, director of
TigerPlace, at 2910 Bluff Creek Drive, Columbia, Mo.
“I think we may get some adoptions out of this,” he
said, because residents are being reminded of the pleasures of
having a pet around the house. Gayer is hunting for a poodle and
a chihuahua for two residents who have been inspired by the program.
Gayer has also been working with pet-rescue agencies to introduce
residents to pets that need permanent homes.
She has been reading up on the therapeutic benefits of having
pets around.
The effects were apparent on the smiling faces of the residents
at Tiger Place as they stroked Terry and Tim and posed for photos.
Gayer is seeing first-hand how animals can brighten spirits.
Note: This Feb. 17, 2006, article has been
republished with permission from the Columbia Daily Tribune. 
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