Animal-Assisted Therapy and Welfare Safeguards

Animal-assisted therapy and pet therapy programmes use animals to support human wellbeing. The welfare of the animals participating in these programmes requires equal attention to the human benefits they provide.

Key Facts

An estimated 5,000 animal-assisted intervention programmes operate in hospitals, care homes, and schools globally
Dogs, horses, cats, rabbits, and even fish are used in various therapeutic contexts
Stress indicators including cortisol elevation and ear position changes have been documented in therapy animals
Handler training and strict session limits are associated with better animal welfare outcomes in therapy programmes
Therapy dogs show elevated cortisol after visits to hospitals compared to their pre-visit baseline
High-quality therapy animal programmes include regular welfare assessments and retirement when animals show stress
Animals choosing to approach participants (agency-based approaches) show lower stress than those directed to visit

Welfare Considerations

Animal-assisted therapy benefits humans while creating welfare obligations for the animals involved that are frequently inadequately addressed. The use of animals in therapeutic settings exposes them to unfamiliar environments, unexpected touches from multiple people, strong medications odours, and emotional distress of clients that may be aversive. Stress indicators in therapy animals during and after visits are documented in research, indicating genuine welfare costs to participation. The welfare cost is manageable with good programme design including session length limits, regular breaks, welfare assessment, and respect for animal agency in choosing to engage. The welfare of therapy animals must be assessed continuously through their working life with retirement protocols ready when welfare compromise is detected.

What You Can Do

Support therapy animal programmes with transparent welfare monitoring and documented retirement protocols
Advocate for welfare standards in animal-assisted therapy including mandatory handler training
Choose therapy programmes that use agency-based approaches allowing animals to choose engagement
Donate to organisations developing welfare standards for animal-assisted intervention
Report concerns about therapy animal welfare to relevant professional bodies
Support research into validated welfare assessment protocols for therapy animal programmes