We had some fun animal stories, a community celebration and safer streets on this edition of Connected Colorado.

Hi everyone, I'm Gary Shapiro.

We're here at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

It is a pretty cool place, and we're gonna learn a lot more about it coming up.

But first, animals can play a big role in the healing process of humans.

Since 1984, there's been a great program in Aurora that has brought lots of joy to both patients and families at Children's Hospital, Colorado.

Yeah, she says hi.

She's praying for him.

He has a procedure.

Oh, yeah, she's sending you all the love.

No, this is her dream.

She literally loves you.

What's your name?

This is Fluffy.

Oh, I know.

Dogs come in with no preconceived notions, they have no judgments of any situation.

They just come in and are there to love and care and help that patient bring a sense of peace and calmness, and maybe they smile for the first time in two weeks.

What kind of dog is she?

She's a Pyrenees Anatolian Shepherd Max.

Hi, my name is Brooke, and this is my dog Fluffy, and we are part of the Children's Hospital prescription pet program.

We've been doing it for about a year now.

She's a love bug, so she loved saying hi to you.

Thank you.

The program is completely volunteer-based.

Hi.

And our job is to, you know, boost some morale.

Dogs are amazing therapy, and so just be able to provide that for anyone in the hospital.

Um is really special.

My daughter recently had a pretty hard procedure done, and she did have to be awake for it.

And the thing that got her through it is I said, you know what, we're gonna get to see a medical dog, and the whole time she's sitting there saying, I'm gonna be so brave so I can see Galaxy.

Galaxy is gonna be so proud of me.

And just watching this little four-year-old, you know, have that motivation to see this dog, and she knows that dog is gonna be proud of her, I mean, unbelievable.

And so it's really great to see both sides as a mom and having patience here and just see the magic that a dog can do to the caregivers, the parents, and the kids.

And then we get to come and pay that forward and do it to others, and it's truly the best thing in the world.

It's the best feeling, and we're so blessed that we're able to do that.

Are you trying to hold hands?

Okay.

We're here with Sarah Metzer, who's a park ranger here at the Wildlife Refuge.

There is a lot to see out there.

Would you give me a tour?

I would love to.

Let's do it.

Let's go.

All right.

So, Sarah, tell me about the refuge out here.

Yeah, so this is Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, officially established in 1992.

We're sitting on just under 16,000 acres here in almost the middle of Denver.

We've got mule deer, white-tailed deer, over 300 species of migratory birds that come through in different seasons.

And of course, we have the bison, which is one of the biggest attractors of folks to the refuge.

And then we also have North America's most critically endangered mammal, black footed ferrets are here too.

Yeah, and lots of birds.

I know I've seen birds out here.

Yes.

Yeah, all the different species that come through.

It's fun to be able to see them in different seasons as they're they're passing through on the flyways, going north or south.

You know what's really cool about this place is it's 10 minutes from Denver, and so people can come out and just be in the wild 10 minutes from Denver.

It's pretty wild.

It's amazing how close to Denver it is, and yet when you get into the interior, it does feel like you're somewhere else, far away.

The fact that the public has the ability to come out here and enjoy this is such an asset and such an incredible jewel for Denver.

So if somebody wants to come out here, you're open all year round, right?