“Since 2011, the number of service and emotional support animals in the National Service Animal Registry has exploded to nearly 200,000 from 2,400. (It costs between $54 and $154 to register an animal with NSAR.)

And as the number of therapy animals has grown, so has the range of species and the roles they’re taking on. The New York Times reported this week that 20 therapy llamas and alpacas are now registered with Pet Partners, a nonprofit that trains human-animal teams to help people with post-traumatic stress disorder, patients recovering from illness and young and elderly people with intellectual disabilities.

At San Francisco International airport, you can seek comfort from the “world’s first airport therapy pig,” Lilou. Miniature horses visit nursing homes, alpacas greet guests at one Portland, Oregon, hotel, and last week a small army of therapy dogs helped Capitol Hill lawmakers and staffers to decompress after the first day of impeachment hearings.

SOURCE: MarketPlace “Make Me Smart” newsletter

Lancaster County and Lebanon County Link partners will recall that Charlie Daniels came to cross-training meetings in 2017 to meet with the residents at Legend Senior Living at Lititz and Juniper Village at Lebanon and Link partners. Charlie and his human mom, Chris Hainley AKA Crazy Pig Lady, live at Fairy Tail Acres.

Charlie is quite the dashing, accomplished, talented ladies man. He is an artist (he paints); a musician (he plays piano) and athlete (he is expert on the teeter board). He’s always got a “pigkiss” for ladies and some gentlemen and he does it all for Cheerios and applause.