Advocate & Educate: Partnering With The Community to Advance Animal Health

Creating Successful Human-Animal Partnerships

To fulfill this mission our practice offers support, education, and resources to our partners and the community. We specialize in providing care for service animals and in providing education around the rights, regulations, and other concerns related to assistance animals.

Assistance Animals Consulting is comprised of licensed veterinarians with a passion for the human-animal bond. We can evaluate animals being considered as an assistance animal for therapeutic purposes. We also guide institutions, professionals, and animal owners through the process of working with assistance animals and service dogs.

The need for assistance animals will continue to rise as both the medical community and the general public shift to a more holistic approach to health care. No one is more qualified to monitor the health and welfare of these animals than a veterinarian. We advocate for bringing more of the veterinary perspective into the human-animal treatment plan when assistance animals are prescribed.

We are trying to, "Bridge the gap between health care professionals, assistance animals and the humans they support.” - Dr. Rhesa Houston, DVM

We work with the community in many ways:

• We provide strategic evaluations and care for assistance animals and service dogs.

• We offer veterinary telemedicine consultations online with live video chat.

• We collaborate with physicians who are prescribing service animals to their patients.

• We assist veterinarians, trainers, and handlers with service animals in their care.

• We partner with humane societies and other animal advocacy organizations.

• We support schools by providing educational resources for students and faculty.

• We work with businesses impacted by regulations related to service animals and ESAs.

• We serve the general public by offering guidance and resources for those interested in obtaining service dogs or emotional animals.

• We speak at events discussing service animals, animal health, and veterinary medicine.

• We've recently launched an online forum for discussions related to assistance animals and service dogs.

Our goal is to facilitate successful, holistic human-animal treatment plans while ensuring the support animal and the general public's health and welfare. If you are a healthcare provider or other veterinarian consider working with us through our referral network.

If you or your organization would like to learn more about the Assistance Animals Consulting Partnership Program, please contact Dr. Rhesa Houston, DVM.

If you are a pet owner or handler and need guidance on working with or caring for a service dog or assistance animal we can help answer your questions with an online consultation.