Volume 22 - 3rd Quarter - Jul | Aug | Sep 2025 | |
A quarterly newsletter for PPOC members and friends!
Read on to find out more about who we are, what we do, and how you can join us
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Pet Partners of the Oregon Coast (PPOC), formerly known as Oregon Coast Therapy Animals, is a Community Partner of Pet Partners. A leading non-profit in the field of animal-assisted therapy for over four decades, Pet Partners registers therapy dogs and other animal companions, including horses, cats, rabbits, and birds.
Our visiting teams provide support, comfort and companionship to adults and children in institutional settings on the Central Oregon Coast, from Neskowin to Florence.
We welcome new members and opportunities to be of service to our coastal communities!
Contact us if you would like more information about arranging for a visiting team, or becoming a registered team with your animal companion!
| | Exploring the Cat-Human Bond | | | |
So many of us share our lives with cats, yet there remains such mystery surrounding this remarkable species that has long been underrepresented in research about the human-animal bond. Thanks to the generous support of Cat Person, this gap in our appreciation of the cat-human bond is now being addressed.
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Crossing the Rainbow Bridge
by Handler Bonnie Rimola
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Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....
| | | 2025 Pet Partners World's Largest Pet Walk | | |
A big thank you to this Pet Partner team, Katharine and Toby, for leading our walk and introducing the walkers to this beautiful beach.
| | Pet Partners of the Oregon Coast chose Sitka Sedge located north of Pacific City as their Pet Partners Largest Pet Walk destination. Weather was perfect and the waves were putting on a spectacular show for our enjoyment. Our four legged friends enjoyed the soft sand between their toes. | | Walkers and puppies taking a break before heading back to the wooded trail and parking lot. | | |
Group picture of our walkers.
Left to right:
Stacey holding Chika, Katharine with Toby, Eve, Bonnie & Violet,
Cari with her husband and Rocky
and Paul, Violet's grandpa.
| | Team Cari and Rocky with husband, Brandon | | Violet, resting on the cool sand. She appointed herself as our walk leader to successfully navigate the walking trail through the forest to the beach. | | | | |
Andeena Oxley and Whitley
Renewed their team registration receiving the
"COMPLEX" team status.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
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Kathy Murphy and Reilly
Renewed their team registration receiving the " PREDICTABLE" team status.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
| | | Moments of a therapy animal visit | |
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Handler Kathy always stops at the Chaplain office to ask what patients would benefit most from a visit with Reilly. Knowing which patients are missing their pet, helps Kathy to spend more time visiting. Kathy makes weekly visits to the lady in picture. She is very lonely and looks forward to her weekly Reilly visits.
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Handler Andeena and therapy dog, Whitley were asked to partake in a meditation session at an assisted living facility. They started with a Zen meditation and followed with a loving kindness meditation. During the loving kindness meditation, Whitley's health issue was the focus of a symbiotic expereince. Whitley took this opportunity to visit and say hello to different people in the group.
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Do you have the desire to be a
Pet Partner Team Evaluator!
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We are always looking for new team evaluators! Most team evaluator candidates will be current Pet Partners therapy animal handlers. Current handlers interested in becoming evaluators can lean more in the GET INVOLVED section of the Volunteer page.
In some cases, Pet Partners will license team evaluators who are not handlers but have particular experience and interest in the team evaluator rol, particularly in geographic areas of need (example: Oregon Coast) Please get in touch with Pet Partners to discuss.
| | | | Why does my dog follow me everywhere? | | | | |
Your dogs might drive you crazy by following you around your house, but it’s a very normal dog behavior.
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Is there a universal language of love, a Kinship With All Life that can open new horizons of experience?
Example after example in this unique classic -- from "Strongheart" the actor-dog to "Freddie" the fly -- resounds with entertaining and inspiring proof that communication with animals is a wonderful, indisputable fact. All that is required is an attitude of openness, friendliness, humility, and a sense of humor to part the curtain and form bonds of real friendship.
For anyone who loves animals, for all those who have ever experienced the special devotion only a pet can bring, Kinship With All Life is an unqualified delight. Sample these pages and you will never encounter "just a dog" again, but rather a fellow member of nature's own family.
AVAILABLE at AMAZON
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Afternoons with Puppy is a heartwarming account of dynamic relationships and outcomes involving a therapist, his therapy animals, and his patients over the course of almost two decades. It is a narrative of Dr. Fine's experiences and the growing respect for the power of the animals effect on his patients and himself.
Afternoons with Puppy returns again and again to the fundamental and deeper elements of life by portraying how our bond with animals centers our being. These interations strip away the unimportant and provide the ground on which healing can take place. Healing is compelled by certainty.
AVAILABLE at AMAZON
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Current Board Members
President - Dr. Caroline Spark, PHD
Vice President - Katharine Harding
Treasurer - Lee Derbyshire
Secretary - Erica Fruh
Lindee Cunningham
Dr. Claire Lohn, DVM
Executive Director - Bonnie Rimola
About our Board Members
Board Meeting Schedule
1st Qtr 2025 Business - Apr 14, 2025
2nd Qtr 2025 Business - July 14, 2025
3rd Qtr 2025 Business - Oct 13, 2025
4th Qtr 2025 Business - Jan 12, 2026
Volunteer Opportunities
If you are interested in finding out about opportunities for serving on the PPOC Board, or volunteering your skills and talents in other ways.
please email Bonnie Rimola at oregoncoasttherapyanimals@gmail.com
| | Pet Partners of the Oregon Coast recommends Instinct Dog Training | | | |
Pick of the Litter Thrift Store- the place to find gentle used toys for your pet.
The flagship of FOLCAS’s fundraising operations is the Pick of the Litter thrift store, opened in July 2009 in a building on the County Commons in Newport. Thanks to our ever-growing ranks of donors, shoppers, and volunteers, Pick of the Litter quickly became a thriving success, filled with with terrific bargains and fabulous finds, with new items every day.
After a five-month hiatus beginning in mid-March 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Pick of the Litter reopened on August 27, at our new
location at NE First & Fogarty.
All proceeds benefit both the Animal Shelter and FOLCAS programs to assist domesticated animals in Lincoln County.
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Non-Team members are important to the success of Pet Partners of the Oregon Coast. Your knowledge, talents and time are valuable assets needed to volunteer in the background operations of our group. If you are interested, contact us by email to become one of our many supporters. | |
You’ve felt it yourself—the undeniable boost you feel when you’re with your animal companion. PPOC volunteer teams share this gift with others, by bringing joy and improved outcomes to people in hospitals, schools, libraries, detention centers, court houses, assisted-living facilities and other community settings.
We’d love to have you join us. We'll help you get started and support you along the way.
| | Support Pet Partners with a Donation to honor or in memory of a loved one. | |
Did you know you can support Pet Partners with your donation in honor of a special loved one or in memory of that therapy dog that visited you during a hospital stay? Visit the Pet Partners website to donate today. | |
Do you have a question on a topic that would be of interest to our readership? Or a story? An idea for an article? A photo of your pet partner? Feedback on this newsletter?
Please don't hold back! And if writing isn't your thing, we can help. The work and the heart of our teams are what we want to feature. Help us make this newsletter a full reflection of the wonderful work of Pet Partners of Oregon Coast! And please forward to anyone who might be interested Thanks!
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