Animals used in therapy provide genuine benefits to human patients, but the welfare of therapy animals themselves requires active attention. Best practices ensure therapy animals thrive in their roles.
Animal-assisted therapy welfare requires recognizing that animals participating in therapeutic interactions are not simply tools for human benefit but have their own welfare needs that must be actively protected. Research has documented that therapy dogs show elevated cortisol during some sessions, particularly those involving many strangers in short succession. The most important welfare protection is genuine choice - animals that can choose to withdraw from interactions and are not forced to continue when showing stress signals participate in genuinely consensual therapeutic relationships. Programs that attend to animal welfare produce better therapeutic outcomes too, as relaxed animals engage more naturally with participants.