Ginger, an American Pit Bull Terrier came into the Delaware county SPCA in May of 2007 as a stray. With her sweet and loving personality she quickly became a favorite of the staff. Hanging out in the office with staff to socialize her and rehabilitate her. She came in as an over bred, emaciated dog that had patches of fur missing on her back. Roland Rivera began working at the shelter in June of the same year, and on his first day he meet Ginger, he had no prior interaction with Pit Bulls prior to working at the SPCA and only heard the negativity surrounding the breed, but still became very interested in Ginger.She was a shelter favorite who always responded to the staff, she became attached to Roland and taught him that her breed deserves a chance just as every other. In August of 2007, Roland adopted Ginger, he and his girlfriend Krystina who also works at the shelter, brought Ginger back to health and socialized her.
In January of this year, Roland took her on an interview for a volunteer position at Bryn Mawr Hospital to be a therapy dog. A therapy dog helps a patient speed up his or her recovery process simply through the interaction of petting, which truly displays the positive affect animals have on humans. Ginger passed the interview with flying colors and started on January 21st. “Though Ginger has a small fan club at the hospital, people still do have negative words to say about her because of her breed. It is my goal to represent Ginger as a positive role model of the breed and prove that Pit Bulls can be just as great of a dog as any other breed” say Rivera.
“We knew Ginger was special from the beginning, she would just want to jump up in your lap and curl up and be loved. She quickly learned commands and was very calm and quiet. We are thrilled to have one of our Alumni, become a Therapy Dog, especially this breed” says Fran Franchi, Director of Development.
PHOTO: Roland with Ginger in the Locker Room at Bryn Mawr Hospital with their ID badges.
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