As Tabby and Fidos goes through a rebranding and is moving locations, many are wondering where they can relax with some furry friends.
The mental health benefits of seeing a furry friend can help students with stress, feelings of loneliness and more.
“There are many mental health benefits related to spending time with animals. These include things such as increased mood, stress reduction, a sense of purpose in caring for an animal, a sense of social connection and mindfulness. Spending time with animals can ease homesickness and help with feelings of loneliness and isolation,” said Faith DeNardo, director of the Office of Health and Wellness.
For students and staff to get some animal love, they can see the PAWS team, go to the Wood County Humane Society or see the cats at RubyCats.
The PAWS team hosts two weekly events where students and staff can get some puppy love.
“We have two weekly events. That is Pump Up with PAWS at the Recreation Center every Monday, 5 to 6 p.m., and the other weekly one is Doggie Study hours at Jerome Library, 4 to 5 p.m. But those are your go-tos. Anyone on campus, faculty or staff or students can request the team to come to the resident hall or student organization meetings,” said Ashley Hartman, a health educator with a focus in mental health at Bowling Green State University.
The PAWS team has over 15 dogs, including dogs like Benny, Oreo and Rosie.
“Obviously, Benny is a fan favorite. He’s definitely our big fluffy guy. But I think the one everyone knows is Oreo. Oreo’s the little chihuahua mix in the stroller. We have three that come the most, the next would be Rosie, and she’s just a beautiful girl,” Hartman said.
Students can see the PAWS team at their events or at other events, but students can also arrange one-on-one visits.
“There’s an option where you can choose that you’re interested in individual therapy dog visits. As part of your well-being coaching, we can invite the dogs to be there as part of that. So you would still work with a well-being coach on developing wellness goals, and then we’d be able to bring the dog in there as well,” Hartman said.
If you see one of the dogs on campus, give them some love as that is their job.
“So, definitely there’s nothing that brings them more joy than people enjoying their dogs being on campus. So come up, say hello. We joke sometimes it’s hard for Carol [Benny’s owner] and Benny to get off campus because their whole walk off, they’re getting stopped,” Hartman said.
Students can also see cats and dogs at the Wood County Humane Society, located at 801 Van Camp Rd.
“Our hours are from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. every day of the week. Our cat room is open to the public that entire time,” said Nic Hardin, the shelter manager.
Students can also volunteer at the shelter.
“We love to have new volunteers. The best way to get started with getting involved is going to our website, which is wchumane.org and going to get involved in filling out a volunteer application. There’s a little bit of online training and then they do an orientation and after that you can come in and do any kind of enrichment or walking dogs or working with a cat,” Hardin said.
The number of animals at the shelter varies due to some getting adopted and others being brought in.
“So we are a fairly small shelter. We have five dogs here currently; they might not all be available at the same time, but we typically have five, and then with cats, we range between having anywhere between 10 to 30,” Hardin said.
RubyCats is a cat cafe located at 618 Adams St. in Toledo and is open Thursday through Sunday, according to the FAQs on the RubyCats website.
To book with RubCats, students can make a reservation through their Booking Page and each 50-minute visit is limited to around 15 guests. Students can walk in, but booking ahead will guarantee a time with the cats. Children six and under need a guardian present, according to the FAQs on the RubyCats website.
While the local cat café has closed, students and staff still have several opportunities to connect with animals both on and off campus.
