John Ball Zoo volunteers Sunny Sjaarda, 78, and Betty Sobel, 75, visited children with a bunny and a chinchilla at Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
Colorado resident Sawyer Claxton, 4, and his mother, Tracy, sanitize their hands before petting a bunny from John Ball Zoo. Sawyer is being treated for a ruptured appendix at Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Lily Gring, 6, smiles as she holds a chinchilla. Lily is getting an EEG, a test that measures brain waves, for her epilepsy. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
St. Helen resident Nathan Wyatt, 17, visits with a chinchilla from the John Ball Zoo while relaxing in his hospital bed at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment for scoliosis. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
John Ball Zoo volunteers Sunny Sjaarda, 78, left, and Betty Sobel, 75, wait for children to visit with their animals on Wednesday at Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
A female chinchilla was among one of the animals that visited with children. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Sawyer Claxton, 4, visits with a bunny. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Lily Gring, 6, visits with a bunny. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Betty Sobel, 75, holds the bunny in the elevator before visiting with children. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
California resident Hector Green, 9, visits with a bunny. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
A male bunny was among one of the animals that visited the hospital. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Sobel and Sjaarda visit with children in the hospital to teach them about their animals. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Nathan Wyatt, 17, visits with a bunny from John Ball Zoo. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Sawyer Claxton, 4, visits with a bunny. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
"Bunnies can tell if you are a good person when you pet them," Sobel said. "They have very good senses." (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Our favorite two ladies in red from the John Ball Zoo were back at it for another animal action-packed visit to Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. Two very soft critters—a bunny and a chinchilla—accompanied them.
Zoo volunteer Betty Sobel, 75, asked St. Helen resident Nathan Wyatt, a 17-year-old patient being treated for scoliosis, what he thought bunnies ate.
“Let me tell you a little hint, no cheeseburgers, no meat,” Sobel said. “But if a bunny is outside, he is going to eat plants and grass and leaves and all kinds of things like that.”
Volunteer Sunny Sjaarda, 78, asked Denver, Colorado, resident Sawyer Claxton, a 4-year-old being treated for a ruptured appendix, which animal he liked better. Sawyer nodded his head and pointed to the chinchilla Sjaarda held.
“Good boy, that was the right thing to say,” Sjaarda said. “But if Betty comes back, tell her you like the rabbit better. Or it will hurt her feelings. But I won’t tell her you said that.”
Apologies, but I cannot think of a worse job than therapy pet for a chinchilla. They are extremely timid animals, even with handtraining and socialization. Constant changes in enviornment or continual exposure to new stimuli can scare them easily. When they are exposed to this ongoing pressure, it stresses them out. Eventually it kills them. They can also pick-up respiratory infections easily (from himand too). A hospital is not safe for them. I have had tons of brave extremely friendly chinchillas, but they still scare at the most random things. I would hope such a chinchilla ends up in an attentive home instead. No matter what kind of joy it spreads as a therapy animal.
Apologies, but I cannot think of a worse job than therapy pet for a chinchilla. They are extremely timid animals, even with handtraining and socialization. Constant changes in enviornment or continual exposure to new stimuli can scare them easily. When they are exposed to this ongoing pressure, it stresses them out. Eventually it kills them. They can also pick-up respiratory infections easily (from himand too). A hospital is not safe for them. I have had tons of brave extremely friendly chinchillas, but they still scare at the most random things. I would hope such a chinchilla ends up in an attentive home instead. No matter what kind of joy it spreads as a therapy animal.