This year, on certain days, the Santa Barbara Airport will have therapy dogs on the premises to help holiday travelers feel less anxious. The dogs are from the non-profit organization Therapy Dogs of Santa Barbara.
"The human-animal bond is scientifically proven to help reduce blood pressure, reduce anxiety, lower stress levels – it has amazing health benefits and most importantly in this scenario, immediate benefits," Jody Williams said.
Williams is the development coordinator for Therapy Dogs of Santa Barbara. She said when people pet or hug the animals, they can’t help but relax and smile.
She said the dogs are highly trained to remain calm even in a crowded airport.
"All of our dogs are very friendly and can be trusted with any sort of interaction with the public," Williams said.
Airport marketing supervisor Angi Daus said lots of people are traveling this year. She said they expect more than 2,000 travelers a day during the holiday season, which is a few hundred more than usual each day.
"One of the things that we know is that it’s stressful and that a lot of people only travel during the holidays," she said.
Daus said days and times will vary, but starting this week, therapy dogs and their volunteer owners will begin to visit the terminal.
"On our busier days, there’s going to be teams of between three and six volunteers with their therapy dogs stationed as you walk into the main entrance, possibly in the baggage claim, and then upstairs post-security checkpoint," she said.
You can recognize the friendly canines by their purple bandanas.