Mystique Films

Documentary looks at healing with animals, Catherine Coulter, North Shore News, Feb. 24, 2003

It's very rare that a pot-bellied pig should play a crucial role in someone's life.

However, Priscilla Valentine credits her pig, and constant companion Nellie for giving her freedom.

Since acquiring Nellie, Valentine, who has a history of grand mal seizures, has been seizure-free, according to filmmaker and West Vancouver resident Mary Bissell.

Bissell explored Valentine's relationship with her pig in a documentary that is part of a new series titled Healing with Animals. To be premiered on the Discovery Channel tomorrow at 9:30 p.m., Healing with Animals examines the way our pets help us heal.

Bissell's first glimpse at animal-assisted therapy occurred when she got her first dog. "I had a corporate career and I was burnt out," said Bissell. "I got my dog Annie and it really changed things for me. She provided a source of peace - she was a sort of a de-stresser.

"We all live hectic, stressful lives. Pets provide a sense of normality. Animal therapy is not just anecdotal, it's backed up by science."

A true animal-lover and a passionate filmmaker, Bissell immersed herself in the topic, in collaboration with Chris Bruyère - her husband and partner in Mystique Films.

Episode 2 is about an ex-heroin addict who, while incarcerated at the Burnaby Correctional Centre for Women, got involved in a program called Freedom Kennels. In the documentary, Brenda Hawkes says her involvement with Freedom Kennels greatly impacted her life. Hawkes came from a background riddled with sexual abuse and consequently a serious addiction to heroin.

Through canine therapy, Hawkes made a significant transition from life on the Downtown Eastside to where she is today, a dog groomer in North Vancouver. "It sounds weird," says Hawkes in the documentary, "but when I groom the dogs I like to have their bodies against mine."

Bissell says: "We need touch and animals demand touch. The women might never be able to forgive themselves for whatever they've been through or whatever they did but the animals don't care."

Bissell says it was not an easy task getting the women who appeared in the documentary to open up to her. "It took a couple of key visits to build a rapport with them," says Bissell. The barriers came down one afternoon while Bissell was interviewing two women serving life sentences that were involved in the program.

Bissell says a dog interrupted the three acutely different women by flopping down in the middle of the circle they sat in. Finally, they had something in common.

"Our focus was on the dog, we were all petting him, they could tell I was a genuine animal lover and it made a difference," Bissell remembers thoughtfully.

Bissell says she feels "really good about the project. It was stressful at first, we had a low budget, but because (my husband) has been in the film industry for 20 years, we got a great crew who were also animal lovers."

Other upcoming episodes are:

Pain Management - a cat provides relief for a man suffering from the pains of cancer therapy;
Troubled Youth - a suicidal teenager finds hope from a horse who has been saved from the glue factory;
Cerebral Palsy - a girl with cerebral palsy gains independence with the help of a service dog.

The show airs every Monday night at 9:30 p.m.