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Video: Therapy Dogs in Halloween Costumes Comfort Stressed-Out LAX Passengers
Modern air travel can be a bummer. From navigating congested departure terminals and to rigorous TSA checkpoints, it's hard to be chipper by the time you get to your gate.
For the past two years, Pets Unstressing Passengers (PUP) has aimed to relieve at least a little bit of the mounting anxiety that comes with traveling at LAX. With volunteers and pups certified by the Alliance of Therapy Dogs, the program has not only aimed to put travelers in a better mood, but the dogs and their handlers also help passengers find their way around, even going so far as to pass out collectible trading cards of the featured dogs to take home. Now, in what one can only hope will become an annual tradition, 13 of the de-stressing doggies got dressed up for Halloween for the first-ever PUP "Howling" Halloween Parade yesterday at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
Some of the animals were dressed as a traveling gnome, a dragon, a taco and a chef. We spotted Sparky the pirate, Vegas the cheerleader, and Delilah the ballerina, just to name a few. Their aim, according to the PUP program, was to "march and pass out 'treats, not tricks' to airport guests."
Throughout the year, each dog and handler works a weekly shift up to two hours at an assigned terminal. So the next time you're stressing at LAX, look for a four-legged friend in a red bib and know that comfort may just be just a tail-wag away.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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