Kyra Hubis and Henry James at Mineta San Jose International Airport.
I get to meet a lot of really wonderful people as someone who writes a lot of stories about helping others. Recently I got to meet a great dog who is helping others. His name is Henry James, and he is a certified therapy dog at Mineta San Jose International Airport.
Henry and his owner, Kyra Hubis, visit the airport every Monday morning to greet passengers and staff, and help reduce everyone’s stress just a little. The story I wrote about Henry, Kyra, and the growing popularity of airport therapy dog programs, is on a positive news website that just launched this fall, TruthAtlas.com. You can find the story and some photos I took at truthatlas.com/airportdogs.
San Jose’s airport is believed to be the first airport in the U.S. to officially use certified therapy dogs. An airport volunteer on 9/11 asked if she could bring her therapy dog to the airport to help calm traumatized travelers and stressed out staff. The program continues to this day with about a dozen volunteers and their dogs, but the idea only caught on recently with other airports. By the end of 2014 there could be as many as 20 airports with therapy dog programs. San Francisco International Airport just launched its own program on Dec. 3, called the Wag Patrol.
Hubis shared some great examples with me of instances where she and Henry helped people in difficult situations. Like the time a woman traveling to see her seriously ill mother wrapped her arms around Henry, buried her head into his fur, and sobbed for 10 minutes. One story that makes Hubis tear up every time (me, too), is when they met up with some soldiers being deployed to the Middle East. One soldier pet Henry, looked him in the eyes, and said, “Buddy, you watch the house while we’re gone.”
Next time you’re flying somewhere, keep an eye out for the therapy dogs and the awesome volunteers teamed up with them. Give them a wave, a pet, or a hug. They’ll be sure to put a smile on your face.
If you’re interested in learning more about airport therapy dog programs, therapy dog organizations, how to get your own dog started in training, etc., make sure to read the story on TruthAtlas.com and check out the links you’ll find there.