San Francisco International Airport has a team of trained emotional support dogs called the Wag Brigade since 2013, and this year, they’ve added a cat named Duke Ellington Morris. Los Angeles International Airport has the Pets Unstressing Passengers (PUP) program, where therapy dogs and handlers roam the departures levels in the gate areas of each terminal.
Sacramento International Airport has 33 therapy dogs and one cat in rotation. Denver Airport has a squad of 97 dogs and one cat in rotation, making it the largest therapy animal program in America. These animal-assisted therapy programs have been shown to reduce stress levels and improve physiological variables in humans and animals, including blood pressure, heart rate, and hormones correlated with well-being.
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