Air Force Staff Sgt. James Kennedy pets Maria, a theraphy dog, at the USO on Yokota Air Base, Japan, Jan. 25, 2024. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — A furry friend has been lifting spirits every week at the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo.
Maria, an 8-year-old lab terrier mix and a rescue dog, is the first certified therapy dog at a USO in Japan, Josephine Grenier, USO Yokota’s operations specialist, told Stars and Stripes on Jan. 18.
“Maria’s job is to come in and volunteer her time to boost the morale of our Yokota community,” she said.
As a therapy dog, Maria spends 5-7 p.m. each Thursday at USO in Yokota’s Yujo Community Center. Visitors may pet and play with Maria and treats are welcome, too.
Maria, who started visiting the USO in August, attracts up to 15 people per visit, Grenier said.
“When you’re overseas, for at least single airmen, we’re not really allowed to have dogs, cats or pets with us in our dorms,” Staff Sgt. James Kennedy, a videographer for American Forces Network Tokyo, said at the USO on Thursday. “So, for someone to bring their pet and let us interact and play with is a pretty big morale boost for me.”
Maria’s human, Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Kristen Yarber, a radio DJ and video broadcaster for AFN, adopted her in 2017.
Maria was a “satos” – Puerto Rican slang for a street dog –Yarber recently told Stars and Stripes. She survived two major hurricanes that hit the island in 2017. One of the storms, Hurricane Maria, is how the dog got her name.
Pregnant and homeless, Maria was rescued by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which took her to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Norfolk, Va., where Maria gave birth, and her puppies were soon adopted.
Maria remained in the shelter, unwanted, underweight, anemic and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Yarber said.
“She was in like a glass box when I saw her for the first time,” she said. “They brought her out and she jumped on me, and they were like, she never does that. I told them that I had been deployed as providing humanitarian assistance to those islands and they were like, ‘This has to be your dog.’”
It was October, Dog Adoption Month, and Yarber took Maria home for $25.
“I realized that when I was around her my anxiety was so low, any time I saw her I just got really happy,” she said. “So, I decided to get her registered as a therapy dog in 2020.”
A therapy dog does not require special training like a service dog and is sometimes confused with emotional support animals.
Therapy dogs provide support to other people, while an emotional support animal provides support to its owner, according to servicedogcertifications.org, an unofficial website where owners can register their dogs.
The simple act of petting animals releases an automatic relaxation response, according to the University of California of Los Angles Health website.
Maria, a therapy dog, visits the USO at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Jan. 18, 2024. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
Petting promotes mental health by stimulating the release of serotonin, prolactin and oxytocin, hormones that can play a part in elevating moods, the website states. It also lowers anxiety and helps people relax, providing comfort and reducing loneliness.
For physical health, the act lowers blood pressure, improves cardiovascular health and diminishes overall physical pain, according to the site.
Maria appears to hit all those boxes for her admirers.
“She is such a sweet dog, and she loves getting all the pets she can get,” Kennedy said. “She’s a great dog and I want to keep coming back so I can say hello to her.”
