Animals used in therapy programs benefit human health and wellbeing, but their own welfare during these activities requires careful attention and is sometimes inadequately considered.
Animal-assisted intervention welfare requires centering the animal welfare perspective alongside human therapeutic benefits. The human benefits of AAI are well-documented for many conditions including depression, anxiety, dementia, and childhood development challenges. But these benefits do not automatically justify welfare costs to participating animals — the welfare framework requires that animal stress during therapy work is monitored and limited to acceptable levels, that animals have genuine opportunities to withdraw from interaction, and that recovery time between sessions is adequate. Programs that treat therapy animals as tools for human benefit without genuine welfare monitoring create an ethical problem: animals that cannot adequately consent to therapy work are being used in ways that may compromise their wellbeing. The most welfare-positive AAI programs integrate animal welfare as a co-equal concern with human benefit, and measure both in program evaluation.