Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honour two constituents, Rusty and his human companion, George Ames, for their amazing work at the St. Boniface Hospital. Rusty, the fluffy, glasses-wearing therapy dog, and George have been a fixture at the hospital for nearly a decade, volunteering their time comforting both patients and staff.
Last year the pair received the Senate 150th Anniversary Medal for their dedication, and recently, the hospital unveiled a portrait the doctors commissioned in their honour. As one of the doctors at St. Boniface said, “I think that a happy, good-natured, loving dog makes a big difference to alleviate some of that stress and help you remember that there's a lot of goodness in the world.”
At 15 years of age, Rusty is still going strong and is helping people in all walks of life get through stressful and difficult times.
I thank George for his dedication to helping bring moments of cheer into people's lives, and to Rusty I say, “Good boy.”