The Wag Brigade Is the Paw-fect Stress Reliever at SFO

Several years later, many airports across the U.S. caught on to the trend and have similar therapy animal programs.

“The reaction from our passengers is really positive,” said Kazarian. “We find that not everyone is traveling for positive reasons. We come into contact with people who are traveling to funerals, they might be leaving home for the first time, they might be traveling on military orders. We also meet a lot of people who have lost pets or can’t have pets so seeing a dog at the airport is always fun.”

The Wag Brigade can be seen walking around SFO’s gates and terminals. Passengers can pet, play and take selfies with the therapy animals.

“It has been proven that petting a dog reduces blood pressure and it makes people happy,” said Kazarian. “When a Wag Brigade animal walks into the terminal we see people look up from their devices and they start to interact with each other and they start to interact with the dog and it puts a smile on everyone’s face.”

“The dogs really love it and its rewarding to see all of the people respond very positively to seeing the dogs,” said Eric Espejo, Pet Caretaker of Benga, a Peke-a-Poo-Tzuzu. “It is pretty incredible; a lot of people are missing their own animals when they are traveling so this provides them with a little bit of comfort. Traveling is stressful so any distraction that you can provide while people are traveling is pretty positive.”

The Wag Brigade volunteers at SFO seven days a week. To join the furry pack, contact the Wag Brigade through their social media platforms.