For seven years, Duke Ritter roamed the halls of hospitals and special needs programs, working to comfort and cheer everyone he met.
Children’s of Alabama was his favorite place to visit. In his prime, he would go every week with his human, Carol, to help patients and staff through some extremely difficult times.
He didn’t retire with just a pat on the head and a fond farewell, though that was part of the picture. The child life specialists at Children’s threw a retirement party for Duke and his handler, who made up one of Hand in Paw’s animal-assisted therapy teams.
“It was such a pleasure to celebrate the legacy Duke and Carol established at Children’s of Alabama throughout the years,” said Courtney Wells, a child life specialist who had worked closely with the pair in the emergency room. “We will never be able to thank them enough for all of the joy they brought to patients, families and staff members during their time with us.”
During the party, several Children’s staff members stopped by and thanked Carol and gave Duke farewell pets, treats and gifts, including a custom collar that had “Dr. Duke” engraved on the tag. There was a special photo wall for pictures and lots of food for humans, as well.
Duke and Carol became a Hand in Paw therapy team in 2015. They made hundreds of therapeutic visits with local program partners, including visiting clients at The Exceptional Foundation, participating in the Pawsitive Living program with Glenwood Inc. and visiting patients in UAB’s emergency room.
“Duke and Carol will be dearly missed, but the impact they left on our hospital will never be forgotten,” Wells said. “We know that Duke will continue to be loved and appreciated by everyone he knows as he transitions into retirement.”
Hand in Paw aims to improve human health and well-being through animal-assisted therapy. Over the years there have been many professionally trained therapy teams of handlers and animals, and they have made thousands of visits a year with children who have special needs, at-risk youth, struggling students and people with chronic and terminal illnesses.
Hand in Paw also is thanking and honoring those people and animals with its own retired therapy dog get-together on Founder’s Day, July 16.
