By Nick Genty

When it comes to therapy, there are times when four-legged friends are best.

A visit to the Little Rock headquarters of the American Red Cross on Thursday afternoon revealed this more clearly than ever before. Katie Kasten and her nine-year-old Goldendoodle Scully were there to support the Red Cross.

“It’s something special when a large grown adult melts on the floor with an animal. Just watching the love between them is so special,” Kasten said.

As part of Pet Partners' disaster response certification program, Kasten and Scully are one of 10 teams certified for disaster relief in Arkansas. Nationally over 8,000 teams are in the Pet Partner program that provide national therapy animals.

“Here today at the Red Cross offices there are people from all over the country, people that are away from home and missing their animals working really hard for the people of Arkansas and we are here to support them in that and are very grateful for that,” Kasten said. As a Volunteer Organization Assisting in Disaster Relief partner, Pet Partners helps the American Red Cross with disaster relief.

“People love the animals. There is a strong connection with the human-animal bond. For the people that need it and the animals that want to provide it,” Kasten said. “It's humbling watching Scully work. To see that human and animal bond in practice and watch that person melt. To touch Scully and pet Scully. It really helps them to be able to focus on the good.”

Several outreach events were visited by Scully and Kasten. She and Scully brought smiles to so many families suffering from the March 31st tornadoes.

“I know when I walked through today, I heard so much about the other teams that have participated in the other events, the multi-agency resources centers, and the other team that came to this center. High five Scully,” Kasten said as Scully extended his paw in the air. “We are so grateful for the Red Cross for allowing us to come in and visit today, and to partner with the Red Cross in the MARCs and VOAD to help people with disaster relief.”