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Local harpist achieves world class reputation in animal therapy
Early development of theories tested by local pet professionals
by Becky Cecena
Published in The Alpine Sun , August 31, 2000
MT. LAGUNA - Mt. Laguna harpist, Susan Raimond, whose studies on the effect of harp music on animals has achieved worldwide recognition, said local veterinarians and animal handlers participated in proving the value of music as an animal therapy tool.
She also credited divine inspiration for her decision to use her music to help animals.
Formerly of Pine Valley, Raimond said she had just released a February 1994 recording - her first as a soloist - and wondered where she should go from there. Turning to prayer, she asked, "Lord, what am I supposed to do with this music?"
Raimond decribes the result as "...a direct answer to prayer."
She was awakened at 2 a.m. and saw a paw print logo and the words "Music to soothe the savage beast," Raimond said, and instantly realized this meant that her music should be used to benefit animals.
Now, people tell Raimond she is a pioneer in the field of harp therapy for animals. "It's a gift that's been given to me, an I'm the tool," she said.
"There's a lot of work to be done in order for it to be known, and to research it, and to have it be substantiated and credible," said Raimond.
The resulting business, Pet Pause, has since become popular with retail clients who purchase her tapes of harp music tailored to calm both animals and people and Raimond is a sought after speaker by such prestigious organizations as London's Oxford Unversity and the U.S. army Medical Institute for Research of Infectious Diseases.
She began researching ho this could be used by working with mobile animal groomers. She played her compact disc while they groomed dogs, cats, horses, etc. and observed that the animals seemed to calm down and were easier to handle.
Then Raimond moved the testing to veterinary offices both in the waiting rooms and in the surgical areas, where staff members were quick to recognize the benefits of Raimond's music.
Janice Johannesen, veterinary assistant at Pine Valley Veterinary Clinic, reported that she played Raimond's audio tape for a couple of weeks for the animals awaiting sedation before surgery.
"When animals first come in and their owners leave them for surgery, they're nervous and stressed," Johannesen said. After ten to twenty minutes of the tape player, the majority of the animals calmed down and just laid in their cages. "I can definitely agree that it seemed to make them calmer," Johannesen said.
Raimond played her harp at the Parkway Pet Center for a variety of cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, hamsters and fish. "What we find is the animals will go to sleep, birds will go to the roost and fish will go to the bottom of the tank, " she said.
In March 1999 Raimond played for the gray wolves at the Julian Wolf Preserve for a Disney "field challenge." The extraordinary result was caught on film for the Animal Planet Channel's "Petsburgh, USA" show.
The alpha male was so soothed, he promptly laid down and became so calm, he nearly fell asleep. The other wolves followed suit. The wolf handlers were surprised and impressed by this reaction, especially since Raimond was a virtual stranger to the wolves.
Raimond's harp therapy is based on the science of vibroacoustics and cytocymatics, in which fields she is now considered a world class expert. She said the terms describe the affect of vibrations and sound waves on cellular matter. According to Raimond, some of the possible benefits of harp enrichment/therapy include lowered heart rate, pulse, blood pressure, respiration and reduced agitation, keeping animals calmer, easier to handle, and more comfortable during birthing.
One thing Raimond has learned when approaching animal handling facilities is that she can't use the word "reserch." Organizations insist o using their own people to handle research, so she developed a new approach:
"There's a federal law that provides for the 'enrichment' of animals," Raimond said, so that's the term she now uses.
In May, Raimond ave three workshops at The Scientists Center for Animal welfare (SCAW) International Conference held in Baltimore, Maryland.
The subject of the conferences was alleviation of pain and distress in animals.
Early this summer, Raimond responded to an invitation from BioWhittaker, a biotechnology comany that researches live cells and develops new medicines and played for a particularly violent group of their monkeys. After 20 minutes, the most violent monkey sat down on his haunches and rolled over on his side with his hands folded under his head.
"The manager of the primates said that the violent behavior was reduced, they figured, by about 90 percent," Raimond said.
She was also contacted by doctors at the U.S. Army Medical Institute for Research of Infectious Diseases, who asked "to pick her brain." Raimond is currently working with the Army writing the protocols for harp therapy that will be used for their animals. Early next year she will be working with the institute in a scientific environment to measure its effects on the animals.
She said slowly, but surely, credible agencies are learning of the work and showing interest. Recently, she received a call from Oxford University in London. They heard of her work from someone what attended teh SKAW conference and wanted more information for an upcoming publication that will list all the work that's been done with music and animals.
Just this week, Raimond was contacted by a professor from the University of California, Davis, which she says is the hub of the animal world in California. She sent him a packet of information.
Her work is not confined to the needs of animals.
This coming October, Raimond will address the Peri Anesthesia Nurses State Convention. There are five different harp therapy programs in the United States that train harpists to work with humans. She said it has been learned that harp therapy in surgery allows as much as 47 percent reduction in the amount of anesthesia required for patients.
Raimond also lectures every six months, usually in October and May, at the University of California, San Diego Thornton Hospital on harp therapy and pain management. Raimond's musical background began 37 years ago with the violin, and 15 years ago she starting playing the harp. She is a concert violinist and harpist, a published author, composer and director, and has recorded numerous CD's. She is a harp string maker and manager of Robinson's Harp Shop in Mt. Laguna. Since 1986, Raimond has been an Emergency Medical Technician/Firefighter with the Mt. Laguna Volunteer Fire Department.
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SUSAN RAIMOND
Author, Lecturer, and Harpist
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