Dr Dog's mainland call

The Dr Dog patient therapy programme was launched on the mainland yesterday.

Twenty handicapped children from Panyu met four dogs certified by the Animals Asia Foundation for patient therapy sessions.

The scheme, launched in Hong Kong in 1991, takes dogs to the elderly, handicapped and disadvantaged children and the terminally ill.

The mainland initiative will be held once a month at the foundation's Panyu bear sanctuary, 20km south of Guangzhou.