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A UNCG professor is hoping to teach local volunteers how to handle their companion animals to help comfort sick people.

Linda Buettner, a professor of recreation therapy and geriantology, hopes to sign up 10 people for a Pet Partners training session Saturday.

“The volunteers who take this class don’t have to be a teacher or in health care professional,” Buettner said. “They can love animals and just want to volunteer.”

Pet Partners is an extension of the national nonprofit organization Delta Society that focuses on the human-animal health connection.

The program teaches and screens volunteers to train their animals so they can visit hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and other facilities.

“They’ve produced a 12-hour training for the handler to learn how to function in the health care setting,” Buettner said.

During the training, volunteers will learn how to manage parts of the visit — the introduction and the rules and regulations about health care and privacy.

Once the handlers complete the course, they will know exactly what they and the animals need to do.

“They actually have a 30-minute test at the end. They’re tested on skill and aptitude,” Buettner said.

Once the handler and the animal pass the course and tests, they become nationally registered as a Pet Partner team. With that, they get $1 million liability coverage in the event of an accident.

“This is probably the toughest animal prep program that there is, and it is the one accepted in most hospitals,” Buettner said.

Moses Cone Hospital has a Pet Partners program with about 12 teams volunteering in the oncology, pediatrics, rehab and behavioral health departments, Buettner said.

“They want to expand it as more teams become available.”

Contact Tiffany S. Jones at 373-7157 or tiffany.jones@news-record.com