CINCINNATI, Ohio – Pets for Patients is a Cincinnati-based group connecting families and rescue dogs.

• Since 2016, Pets for Patients has connected 42 dogs and families
• P4P works with families of chronic or terminally-ill children and veterans
• Pets for Patients works to find a mutual beneficial solution for families and rescue dogs

Founded in 2016, they've placed 42 dogs with families who are caring for a sick child or veterans. With a doctor's recommendation Pets for Patients will build a profile to place a dog with a family.

All dogs are acquired through southwest Ohio shelters or rescue groups. Each dog receives all of its veterinary care, obedience and temperament training, and is slowly introduced to families.

The idea is to place the dog in a forever home, although families are under no obligation to keep the pet.

Alicia Noschang helped co-found Pets for Patients.

“We pair volunteers with the family,” Noschang said. “When you have a sick or terminally ill child you don't want multiple people coming in and out of the house. So one volunteer is based for the family.”

There is no cost to families, and all money raised by Pets for Patients goes towards placing dogs in forever homes.

“We still continue to help with vet care, we still continue to help with grooming. So say a dog needs to be boarded we help find, if the family goes on vacation, a place for them to stay or maybe a family to watch them.”

The all-volunteer based group works closely with doctor's and staff at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Many of the families are caring for children with chronic or terminally-ill conditions.

Abbey Mulligan cares for her 25-year-old brother who is paralyzed after a near-drowning accident at the age of 2.

“They're amazing,” Mulligan said after learning about Pets for Patients from a friend. “They've become family. They've introduced me to this community that I don't know what I'd do without them. And not just the people that work for Pets for Patients, they've introduced me to other patients within the organization and their parents and it's just been, it's been really cool to get to be a part of this community.”

Mulligan, with the help of nurses, began caring for her brother after their mother passed away in 2018 from cancer. She began thinking of a dog as a way to lift Joseph's spirits.

“It become even more important to me that he have something to look forward to everyday,” Mulligan said from her dining room. “Some reason to smile when he woke up everyday. Because for me, you know, my cats did that for me and I wanted something like that for him.”

Enter Griffey.

“He's been with us since December of 2018. He's just a giant goofball. Loves his toys, obviously.”

Griffey, a shelter dog for nearly three years, was initially named Griffin. But Joseph has an affinity for the Reds and former superstar Ken Griffey, Jr. - thus, a name change.

“I knew from the first time I met him he was our dog. He was just super goofy and super playful and not necessarily what I thought we needed in a dog, but it was just obvious to me from the get go he was exactly what we needed. And not just what we needed but everybody that comes in and out of this house needs.”

Mulligan said after Griffey was in the house for a few days a nurse was bringing Joseph downstairs and Griffey couldn't contain his excitement.

“It was the first time in five years, I think, that Joseph had actually laughed. And that's just, that says it all right there.”

Pets for Patients does not offer therapy dogs or service animals. Instead, they aim to match families with animals that is mutually beneficial. Despite families having no obligation to keep the animal, Pets for Patients has never had a dog returned.