🌟 Meet Stitch the Skunk: How One Man’s Unusual Therapy Animals Are Changing Lives
Therapy dogs and cats are well-known, but what about a therapy skunk?
At Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice in Coventry, England, an 11-month-old striped skunk named Stitch is winning hearts — and helping heal them. He’s part of an unusual animal therapy team run by Dale Preece-Kelly, founder of Critterish Allsorts, who brings more than 70 animals to care homes, prisons, schools, and hospices across the region.
“After being rescued, they help to rescue others,” said Preece-Kelly, who once worked in factories and as a chauffeur before turning a lifelong love of animals into a life-changing mission.
From milk snakes and bearded dragons to a hairless guinea pig named Oreo and a dog named Ekko, the animals aren’t just entertaining — they’re therapeutic.
Preece-Kelly explains that large snakes can mimic the calming effect of a weighted blanket, while simply stroking or holding animals helps children with mobility and sensory processing.
“I can come in and everyone’s screaming, I can leave when everyone’s sleeping,” he said. “Which is a lovely way to work.”
Zoe’s Place, a hospice for babies and young children with complex medical needs, relies on such moments of calm and joy to support both children and their caregivers. For nurse Tammy Neale, the animal visits offer crucial relief:
“It helps a lot with anxiety and stress… if they’re in pain or having dystonic episodes, it can help them relax,” she said. “The smiles and happy faces say it all.”
For two-year-old Frankie, who lives with myotonic dystrophy, animal therapy has brought courage, joy, and connection.
“She’s a lot braver than I am,” joked her mum, Lauren. “She loves the animals — she gets so excited.”
Frankie requires 24-hour care, and Zoe’s Place provides her parents with not only essential medical support, but something equally rare: rest.
“It gives us a little break,” said Lauren. “We can leave her here knowing she’s in such good hands.”
🐾 Beyond the Smiles
While Stitch the therapy skunk might raise eyebrows at first, the impact of Dale Preece-Kelly’s work is no laughing matter. It touches families, supports exhausted caregivers, and — for a moment — makes complex, heavy days a little lighter.
“Without this place,” nurse Neale added, “parents wouldn’t get the rest they need. This gives them the freedom to breathe.”