Pet Pals

From 1996-2021 Pet Pals brought volunteer dogs to the American Family Children’s Hospital to visit pediatric patients, many of whom were hospitalized for extended periods with very severe diseases.

This program recruited and screened teams of volunteer dogs and their owners to visit children who are patients at the American Family Children’s Hospital (AFCH) with the goal of providing these very special kids with safe and enjoyable visits from loving canine friends.

After 25 years of positively impacting the lives of thousands of children and their families who have relied on the American Family Children’s Hospital for care, Pet Pals has made the difficult decision to come to an end.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteer-based programs like Pet Pals were suspended indefinitely beginning in March 2020 and continue to be suspended without current plans to resume in the near future.

From its beginnings, Pet Pals prioritized the safety and well-being of all AFCH patients, and now, Pet Pals will cheer on and support children and their families from afar.

I would like to take a minute to reflect on the twenty-five wonderful years the Pet Pals program has contributed to the well-being of AFCH patients, their families and hospital staff.  The growth of the program has been simply phenomenal. We started with three dear dogs (Magic, Duke and Bismarck) and expanded to around 25 teams at any one time over the past several years.  In total, 156 dogs have participated in the program!  Every size, color, amount of fur and personality you can imagine — all loved by the AFCH kids.  Plus, 200 human volunteers have served our program faithfully as team members, visit captains and behavior evaluators. Then there are the countless veterinary medical students, without whom our essential medical evaluations would not have been possible.

Sincerely,
Dr. Linda Sullivan
Pet Pals Coordinator and Professor Emerita, UW School of Veterinary Medicine