Meet Kents therapy ducks!

KentOnline / KMTV

There are over six thousand dogs working as therapy animals in the UK, helping people in various ways.  But here in Kent we have a collection of therapy Ducks!  From Historical reenactments, to a variety of charity work, Mark Colyer and his three therapy Ducks are often seen spreading Joy around Kent.

Transcript

00:00Animals can be a big part of many people's lives, whether that be a beloved pet or a therapy animal.

00:08In the UK there are over 6,000 dogs currently working as therapy dogs. They range anything

00:15from a medical alert dog, a guide dog, or to just be there to help with mental health.

00:21But here in Kent we have something a little different. Therapy ducks.

00:26I came down to speak to Mark to find out more about the ducks, just like Pinky here.

00:32Mark has a total of 19 ducks and I spoke to him to get to know a little bit more about what the ducks do.

00:38I do meet and greet therapy ducks. My very first duck was dog. I hatched him out nearly six years ago now.

00:46My main therapy ducks, I do an awful lot of work with children with autism, cancer hospitals,

00:53we do an awful lot of work with charity. We go raising money for charities.

00:59Mark and the ducks travel to all manner of events from historical reenactments to the local high

01:05streets to bring joy to those around. After attending so many events,

01:10Mark has many amazing stories about how his ducks have helped individuals.

01:14When I was at Mitchum Priory three years ago with dog, we met Lorna, a 14 year old girl, blind from birth.

01:23She felt his beak, every single feather on his body, his legs, his feet. And in the photograph,

01:32my eyes actually streaming and Lorna was saying, thank you so much. I now know what a duck looks like

01:38and feels like. With an interesting, but incredibly cute way to bring joy. I wanted to know why Mark

01:45does what he does. I just want to make people smile. These are very hard, dark times. If I can

01:51make people smile. I have a really good day. I get home at night and I've had a really good day. I'm

01:57buzzing. With such incredible work, I was left with one more question. How does one acquire so many ducks?

02:05No, I do rescue a lot of birds every year. When people, it comes on Facebook, like, oh, Mark,

02:10there's a bird. I normally say, what's your postcode? And when they send me their postcode,

02:16they say, oh, when can you come? Like, well, I'm on my way now. I'll do it all free of charge. I rescued

02:22from Hempcid, a mallard female and nine little ducklings. And the gentleman goes, oh, how much do you

02:30want for donations? Nothing. I said, no, no, no. I said, join me on Facebook and every day I will keep

02:38you updated on their progress. After spending some time with the ducks and feeding them peas,

02:44I can certainly see why these animals in particular can be a great way to help people,

02:49whether that be physical or mental health. Etterley Reynolds for KMTV.

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