Brady Williams: At the Liverpool Public Library, kids are always welcome to come and read. Mom and Dad can be a good audience, but each Saturday, there’s a special visitor. Roxxi is a therapy dog. Once a week, she donates her time to support new readers.
Kathryn Szklany: Encouraging reading at an early age is really important and the dog is just an extra draw.
BW: Roxxi’s owner, Becky Maxwell believes that dogs can be more inviting for kids that are still learning.
Becky Maxwell: The dog is not judgmental the dog just sits there and listens and the children get more confidence and enjoy reading more.
BW: Of course, it’s not all hard work.
Clara Szklany: I like to pet the dogs.
KS: And are they nice dogs? Yeah.
BW: As friendly as Roxxi is, people weren’t always friendly to Roxxi. See, Roxxi was rescued after she thrown from a moving vehicle when she was just one years old. But now, she helps everyone she can.
BM: She adopted me and saved me three and half years ago. It was a rough time in my life and she came in and she was just absolutely like I said not judgmental, destressed me, and helped me get through a very difficult time.
BW: Now the pair go across the county to show strangers that people and animals care.
BM: One girl came down, she just dropped on the ground and started hysterical sobbing. Roxxi got up off laying down, and she went up to the girl and licked the tears off the girl’s face. Animals just have the kindred spirit, they fell empathy and they see if someone is struggling, and they just want to make people calm and happy.
BW: Roxxi and other animals provide services that can be found on PAWSofCNY.org. Brady Williams, NCC News.
LIVERPOOL, N.Y. (NCC News)- Each Saturday, PAWS of Central New York, an organization focused on animal-based wellness services, sends a therapy dog and handler to the Liverpool Public Library. The dogs lend a sympathetic ear to young readers who are just learning the ropes.
One handler, Becky Maxwell, believes that kids are more comfortable reading to animals because they know a dog can be far more understanding.
“The dog is not judgmental,” Maxwell says. “The dog just sits there and listens and the children get more confidence and enjoy reading more.”
She and her dog, Roxxi work these events to help other people, as they helped each other. When Roxxi was about a year old, she was thrown from a moving vehicle. After being rescued, she was transported to Central New York. That’s when Maxwell adopted her and gave her a new, loving home.
However, Roxxi wasn’t the only person who was rescued.
” It was a rough time in my life,” Maxwell says. “And she came in and she was just absolutely like I said not judgmental, destressed me and helped me get through a very difficult time.”
Now they try to spread that affection and positivity across the county. Whether, it’s helping kids read, visiting college students or just allowing a friendly pet on the street, Roxxi and Becky are always willing to share some love.
