When someone you love is terminally ill, you may do whatever you can to make the little time left count. Attleboro Massachusetts Mayor Paul Heroux took his dying dog Mura on a cross-country bucket-list trip. He says “Filling up my gas tank: $40. Staying at a sketchy hotel: $60. The look on Mura’s face after she just ate a nasty freeway gas station hot dog: Priceless.” The animal friendly politician has also gone to far lengths to make his government workplace a pet-friendly environment. Also research back by the Iams Company is now showing that animal assisted therapy can make a significant difference in the recovery of troubled teens. A New Leash On Life, a program designed to match foster dogs with troubled youth, is having a positive effect on the children’s behavior and social interaction. Britt Savage Reports. Also, many airports around the country are helping to de-stress passengers with teams of therapy animals in the terminals. These mostly include dogs and the occasional therapy pig, which struts around the San Francisco airport, or the therapy cats in Denver. Now, there is a new kind of therapy animal appearing at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana, where they have baby alligators at the baggage claim. The program is part of the airport’s new partnership with the Audubon Nature Institute. Selfies are encouraged for that souvenir you won’t soon forget. And finally, in keeping with the goals of reducing, replacing and/or refining the use of animals in research, the Food and Drug Administration has released for public comment their proposed research to validate an alternative approach for what they call bioequivalence studies for certain animal drugs. Another proposed change is that for at least two months before a study begins, the FDA’s animal care staff will work with the dogs to socialize them and acclimate them to being handled. The dogs will also receive regular veterinary care, including vaccinations and preventive care, so that they remain happy, well socialized and healthy and thus able to be adopted.