Professor Abrams’ Endowment Buys Therapy Dog For MU Children’s Hospital

With royalties from his Children and the Law and Family Law casebooks, Professor Doug Abrams created the Happiness For Health program at the MU Women’s and Children’s Hospital in 2001. Happiness For Health is a permanent endowment that provides toys, stuffed animals and games for sick and injured children at the Hospital, as well as parties for children who are hospitalized on their birthdays and other special occasions.

Happiness For Health has purchased the first trained therapy dog for patients at the hospital. According to Therapy Dogs International, “Having therapy dogs in the hospital helps normalize the setting for children who are away from home under scary and unpleasant circumstances…. Parents often report that when their child saw the Therapy Dog, it was the first time they smiled since they had been admitted to the hospital.”