If you happen to be traveling and find yourself at the Portland International Airport in Oregon, you need not worry about aerophobia. That’s because the airport has an animal therapy program, which allows visits by llamas and alpacas to help reduce travel anxiety. The animals visit every few weeks from Mountain Peaks Therapy, the farm where they live. When they’re not at the airport, they have a busy schedule that includes corporate events and weddings. Therapy programs with animals in airports are different from emotional support or service animals, which typically travel with individuals. Therapy animals are insured and have credentials through organizations like animal hospitals and are subject to little state and federal regulation. There’s evidence that animals have a calming effect on people, especially those who have a fear of flying. Not all llamas or alpacas are good candidates for this kind of therapy because they feel safer among their peers. Working with local breeders, Shannon Joy, co-owner of Mountain Peaks Therapy, looks for animals that are curious about humans, which shows they are confident. In order to be credentialed as therapy animals, llamas and alpacas undergo extensive training. Among other things, they have to learn to tolerate being handled by many people. Joy says that 1 in 15 llamas have that level of confidence and bodily autonomy. She puts the number of alpacas at 1 in 75. “It’s very rare.”
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| Shannon Joy (left) and her mother Lori Gregory from Mountain Peaks Therapy |
