Sparky, St. Louis University

I remember bitter cold that February morning. I was lost and so hungry when I saw her: Marian! We fell in love and formed our pack. She had a dogtorate in nursing and did animal therapy in nursing homes. I told her I can help too! So we went to nursing homes and I made people happy. She wrote down numbers and published things, and we were in newspapers and on TV and Jay Leno made us laugh. I have a big family now and alot of love.

Sparky, St. Louis University

Human Footnote: Sparky's work has been published in two scientific papers* and his publicity includes a front page article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Feb 27, 2008) and comment by Jay Leno on the Tonight Show.

*Banks, M.R. and W.A. Banks. The effects of group and individual animal-assisted therapy on loneliness in residents of long-term care facilities. Anthrozoos 18: 396-408, 2005.

*Banks, M.R, L.M. Willoughby, and W.A. Banks. Animal-assisted therapy and loneliness in nursing homes: Use of robotic vs living dogs. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 9:173-7, 2008. PMID: 18294600

Submitted by:

William Banks, MD
St. Louis University
St. Louis, MO