Meet the dog supporting new university students

Therapy Dog Cara with owner Tabitha Biller, an autism mentor

A therapy dog who was re-homed after his owner died will be available to support students coming to an East Midlands university.

Cara, a 10-year-old black labrador, has already helped numerous students at De Montfort University, Leicester, particularly those with autism as they settle into student life away from their friends and families.

He passed his assessments with Therapy Dog Training UK after his owner died and he was taken on by the owner's granddaughter, Tabitha Biller, who works at the university.

Ms Biller said asking people about their pets is a great way to get conversation flowing with new students.

Cara, the therapy dog at De Montfort University

Cara, which means "friend" in Gaelic, has already been part of several 20-minute therapy dog appointments, where students come in pairs to sit and make a fuss of him, as well as attending Thursday evening socials.

The university would now like to include a new range of services, such as having Cara meet and greet new arrivals, help with residential orientation events and meet prospective applicants at open days.

Ms Biller said: "Meeting new people, especially in an unfamiliar environment, can be a particular challenge where autism is concerned and we have often found at our weekly socials that asking people about their pets is a great way to get conversation flowing".

She added: "Cara came to live with me and started his therapy dog training so that he could join me at work. He has taken to it brilliantly and has definitely lived up to his name.

"To the best of my knowledge we are the only service making this kind of offer to autistic university students."

The DMU Autism Team has 500 students on his mailing list and are now looking to expand the services they offer.

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