Welfare Science

Animal-Assisted Therapy Welfare

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) using dogs, horses, and other species in therapeutic settings can benefit human health but raises important welfare questions about the animals involved.

Key Facts

Animal-assisted therapy is used in hospitals, care homes, schools, and mental health settings
Therapy dogs must be evaluated and certified, with regular welfare assessments
Animals in therapy work may show stress signals that handlers miss or ignore
Equine-assisted therapy is growing with horses used in mental health programmes
Benefit to human participants must be balanced against welfare cost to animal participants

Welfare Considerations

Animal-assisted therapy welfare requires ensuring that animals participating genuinely benefit or at least are not harmed by their role. Rest, control over interactions, and regular welfare assessment are essential. The human benefits of AAT do not justify welfare compromise to animal participants.

What You Can Do

Support AAT programmes that have robust animal welfare assessment protocols
Advocate for animal welfare certification requirements in all AAT programmes
Respect animal body language signals that indicate stress during therapy interactions