Foreward for "The Cat That Went To Homecoming"

Pet Partners® is proud to have played a role in Julie Otzelberger’s coming-of-age novel, The Cat that went to Homecoming.  Written from the perspective of a bullied teenage girl named Ellen, the story describes many positive changes that occur during the summer that Ellen begins her journey toward becoming a Pet Partners therapy animal team with her cat Hershey.

Do you like stories where the ‘good guys’ get revenge on the ‘bad guys’?  If so, this isn’t the book you’re looking for.  The Cat that went to Homecoming is instead a novel where compassion and maturity triumph.  That doesn’t mean the story is dull — actually, quite the opposite is true! 

The Cat that went to Homecoming addresses many serious social issues including family separation, bullying, homophobia, social isolation, and depression.  The compelling story is also about fun, friendship and forgiveness.  The transformations throughout the novel are not always a direct result of Hershey’s affectionate personality, but Ellen does gain self-confidence as she gets involved with Pet Partners.  This strength helps her overcome many other problems in her life.

Pet Partners was established in 1977 as Delta Society by several veterinarians and a psychiatrist who recognized the importance of the human-animal bond.  They proposed and funded initial research that proves the health and emotional benefits of interacting with pets.  Now recognized as a legitimate field of study, Animal-Assisted Therapy continues to be researched and taught within major universities.

As the organization evolved, it launched one of the first visiting animal programs in 1990.  Volunteers team with their calm, affectionate pets to provide comfort, motivation and entertainment to residents of nursing homes, hospitals, schools, and other facilities where animals are not typically allowed.  Major health care organizations now consider Pet Partners to be the gold standard.  We currently register over 11,000 therapy animal teams across North America.  Although the majority of registered therapy animals are dogs and cats, Pet Partners also registers horses, rabbits, birds and other domesticated species. 

Ms. Otzelberger told us that the character of Hershey is based upon her own cat Bear.  She and Bear recently became a registered Pet Partners therapy animal team and are already experiencing what other teams report to us daily; that visiting people in facilities where pets cannot be kept is just as beneficial for the therapy animal handler as it is for the person visited. 

Most high schools now require a certain number of community service hours from students.   If you have a special pet — and if it makes you happy to bring joy to other people — you’ll be interested in reading about the steps Ellen and Hershey take together to become a registered Pet Partners therapy animal team.  Of course, you’ll enjoy a lot of other things about this novel too; the main characters will seem like good friends and you’ll be hoping that Ms. Otzelberger writes another book about Ellen and Hershey soon!

Paula Scott-Ginn

Pet Partners Marketing Coordinator

Bellevue, WA

July 2013