Baby Animal Petting Zoo

I went to visit Dad in the home this morning and to my surprise and delight they were having one of their theme days. Today it was farming and all the staff were dressed up as country folk. There was also a baby animal petting zoo for the residents to look and touch. They were bringing the dementia residents out in ones and twos and as luck would have it, Dad hadn't been out when I arrived so I took him myself.

It is amazing to see the effect that an activity like this has on the residents of the home. Dad brightened up considerably and with a bit of direction from me, got to pat the calf, sheep, lambs and as pictured here, he got to hold the kid goat.

Rather amusingly a chicken had to be taken away from one dear old fellow. He was holding it's neck just a little too tight. Old habits die hard I suspect.

As luck would have it I had to EOS in the car so I grabbed it and took a few photos. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the on camera flash handled the harsh lighting conditions. It has really given a nice fill to Dad's face.

When I took Dad back to the secure unit he had his morning tea waiting for him, and while he ate that I headed off.

It was a fun way to spend and hour this morning and it's good to see the level of participation and the lengths the people at the home go to in an effort to keep the residents stimulated and happy.