Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine - March 2008 - (Page 20) The Good Guys The Dog Will See You Now A foundation that sponsors animal therapy for patients finds that demand outstrips supply. By Danielle Beurteaux V incent DeGiaimo has seen firsthand the effect a friendly dog can have on a hospital ward. Lethargic, disinterested or depressed patients suddenly come to life when a happy canine meanders through. “Walk in with a dog, and something happens,” DeGiaimo says. “Patients pep up and become alert — it’s wonderful.” He has seen it time and again as a founding member of the Good Dog Foundation, which is celebrating its tenth Good Dog Foundation’s Vincent DeGiaimo: “Walk in with a dog, and something happens.” anniversary and last year alone sponsored visits to more than 110,000 people in hospitals, schools and private homes. After being recruited by Good Dog’s founder, Rachel McPherson, DeGiaimo came aboard in 1998 to help with the group’s finances and remains treasurer. McPherson’s husband, W. Patrick McMullan III, Good Dog’s president, had been a colleague of DeGiaimo’s at investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. DeGiaimo, 57, now the chief operating and compliance officer at Muirfield Capital Management, a $1 billion-plus New York–based fund-of-funds firm, threw himself into his role at Good Dog: “Sometimes it’s easier to write a check and harder to give time, but I became very passionate about the mission.” He says the group — which employs ten people, including four trainers — strives for balance in meeting as many requests as possible for the highly in-demand owner-anddog teams without overcommitting its resources. He also says developing a system to measure results is key, both to reassure donors and to set expansion priorities. Because the effects of animal-assisted therapy are mostly anecdotal, DeGiaimo wants to establish a research arm in the near future to measure results, a move he believes would bolster the group’s already strong reputation. “We want to be perceived as a leader in the therapy arena,” he says. McPherson says she relies heavily on DeGiaimo. “I trust him explicitly, and I take his advice seriously,” she says. “His financial skills are so solid, and he’s so energized.” Each of the foundation’s 507 volunteer owner-and-dog teams are rigorously vetted and go through ten weeks of training, which follows a curriculum created by the foundation. “We’re sought out because of the quality of our dogs,” DeGiaimo says. “We’ve raised the bar and set a standard.” Some of Good Dog’s accomplishments have come through activism. In 1998 it helped change the New York State law that barred animals from health facilities, and it took part in a pilot program at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York aimed at dispelling fears about the dogs’ transmitting diseases. Animal-therapy advocates say patients are more likely to contract disease from staff members or human visitors than from the foundation’s dogs. Good Dog is active in 132 facilities in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, and also has programs for children with developmental disabilities and for those who have experienced trauma or abuse. Its teams have helped victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11 and Hurricane Katrina. DeGiaimo, who lives in Bronxville, New York, with his family, including a dog named Zoe — “a mutt with some border collie” — says he is impressed by the trainers and volunteers, and notes that demand far exceeds supply. “They ask, ‘Why aren’t we in more hospitals?’” says DeGiaimo. “There’s so much need for this service.” For more information, visit www.thegooddogfoundation.org. Photo by Rayon Richards for Alpha 20 • INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR’S ALPHA • MARCH 2008 http://www.thegooddogfoundation.org
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