‘I’m anxious, and she notices’: Emotional support animals welcome at this Miami area school

A year ago, Hialeah Gardens High School student Wendy Chai met Snowball, the American Eskimo dog.

Chai, 16, was diagnosed with anxiety and depression when she was 13 years old, but thanks to an initiative started at her high school, she has relied on Snowball to help her get through the day.

The program, S.A.F.E. (Support Animals For Everyone), was started by students at her school in 2022. It allows certain students to bring support animals to school and also makes support animals available to students and staff during school hours.

The students presented their project to the Aspen Challenge in Miami. The initiative won third place.

Chai is now also a volunteer.

“When I am with Snowball, I focus more on being with her than on what’s going on around me. Being surrounded by so many people gives me anxiety, and this school is very big,” Chai told el Nuevo Herald. “I’ve taught her to walk in circles around me. That makes people walk away.”

Chai is also teaching Snowball to identify when she is anxious. “I constantly touch my leg when I’m anxious, and she notices,” she said.

S.A.F.E President Naomi Gallardo, 17, explained that exposure to animals helps students relax after exams.

“We bring different types of animals — dogs, cats, rabbits, snakes — according to their preferences and whatever allergies the students have,” Gallardo said. “We are holding annual events to talk about mental health.”

In addition to the pets brought by students and teachers, six kittens under three months old are available for adoption from the Miami-Dade County Animal Services Department. The school permanently has four rabbits on its premises: Sunny, Cindy, Bun Jovi and Lilo, which are available to students when they need attention.

There are also unconventional support animals, such as Diamond, a python that belongs to student Yanelis Velázquez, a volunteer in charge of caring for and cleaning the pets.

The 18-year-old has five pythons at home, and this is the first time she has brought one of them to school as part of the therapeutic program. “She’s very friendly and it’s easy to keep her as a pet; she just needs food and water,” she said.

To Dyami Valdés, a student and volunteer at S.A.F.E., the initiative has helped to “prioritize mental health over academics. There continues to be a stigma around mental-health illnesses and their impact in high schools,” she said.

Valdés says young people have a lot of academic stress and these initiatives “help us relax.”

Breaking the stigma

For many, talking about mental health is tough — the stigma makes addressing the issue an uphill battle. The presence of a trained animal as emotional support usually helps to break down that psychological barrier.

Jeannie Shen, a teacher and director of S.A.F.E., says its particularly tough for Hispanics, the majority population in Hialeah Gardens and the neighboring city of Hialeah, to talk about depression, anxiety or stress.

“Many times they think it’s silly. Even if they talk about going to therapy, they think that what you feel should stay with you. But the moment you bring an animal, they don’t question that it’s a way to do mental therapy and relax,” Shen said.

It’s not just families, but also schools that have long struggled to find ways to help students deal with academic stress.

Some of the teachers bring their pets to the school to cope with illnesses caused by stress.

English teacher Eduardo Martínez suffers from psoriasis and always brings his two Bernese mountain dogs, Moose and Alli, to school. His closeness with his support animals helps him deal with stress and decrease the effects of his skin disease.

Also, his dogs are trained to give emotional support to students.

“Sometimes while in class, Moose or Alli sit next to a student,” Martínez said. “At that moment I know that this kid is suffering. Many times, after that contact, we take them to a counselor to talk about their problems.”