"My dog pen pal has a lot in common with me. We both have osteosarcoma, and he's gone through the same thing I have, he even got some of the same chemotherapies" (girl in YAPS).

We are committed to expanding the reach and scope of YAPS as a virtual animal-assisted therapy program that may serve patients around the globe, beyond the single hospital in which YAPS has operated.

More evidence is needed to understand how and why writing letters to an animal pen pal influences quality of life in children with cancer. The founder of YAPS, Anne Gillespie, is doing more research on this topic as part of her PhD dissertation.