Animal-assisted therapy: Difference between revisions

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a relatively new field of study, although the human-animal bond has existed for thousands of years. AAT is a type of therapy that involves animals as a form of treatment. The goal of AAT is to improve a patient’s social, emotional, or cognitive functioning. Animals can also be useful for educational and motivational effectiveness for participants .

Animals are tools for therapy because they can make people feel safe and loved when they have been deprived of social interaction or hurt by other people. They do not communicate with words, and so patients afraid of approaching people can comfortably approach an animal. Additionally, a therapist who brings along a pet is viewed as being less dangerous by the patient, and so the previously uncommunicative patient is willing to share more with the professional . Animals commonly used for therapy include dogs, cats, horses, birds, rabbits, and other small animals.

Dogs are common in animal-assisted therapy.

History

Early Relationships

St. Roch is often depicted with a dog.

The Mexican Hairless Dog was a favorite among the Aztecs.

The Aztecs believed that dogs were sent by the god Xolotl to be spiritual guides in life. A breed they favored particularly was the Xolo, now commonly known as the Mexican Hairless Dog. Clay figures of these dogs date back to 300-900 AD in the Aztec culture. The Aztecs believed they provided magical power to alleviate pain in the joints and stomach, and draped the dogs over the painful area for relief. .

St. Roch, the patron saint of dogs, was born in 1295 the son of a wealthy governor in Montpellier, France . When he was just 20 years old his parents died, leaving him with an immense fortune. He distributed his inheritance to the poor and lived his life as a pilgrim, passing on the role of governor to his uncle. When a plague struck the city, his prayers seemed to have special healing powers for the public, and so he travelled from city to city as a public healer. This continued until he contracted the illness himself, and to avoid spreading it to more people he hid in the woods to live out his days. Later, a dog found him and returned with a loaf of bread every day. The dog also licked the sores on his legs caused by the plague, slowly nursing him back to health. Today we know that dogs’ saliva actually has a small amount of antibiotic which may have been instrumental in his healing process.

The dog’s owner Lord Gothard eventually found him and took him in, and St. Roch survived the whole ordeal. Today, no one is sure what specific breed of dog saved his life, but he is always depicted in artwork with a dog at his side.

Pets and Socialization

Towards the end of the 17th century in Europe, the tradition of owning pets began to extend out from the wealthy upper class to the urban middle class. Populations were moving to more rural areas and began owning more animals. As the beginning of a socialization trend in animals, John Locke advised giving children pets so that they could learn to be gentle and have responsibility for others. Other 18th-century reformers believed pets could teach children to control their own wild behaviors by controlling real animals. It has even been reflected in children’s literature during this time period and stories were written about animal welfare to promote kindness and placid behavior in youth. Today, pets can be introduced to school settings for young children. .

Pets and Mental Health

The earliest reported case of AAT for the mentally ill took place at the York Retreat in England, led by William Tuke in the late 18th century . Patients at this facility were allowed to wander the courtyards and gardens that were full of small domestic animals, proven to be effective tools for socialization. In 1860, the Bethlem Hospital in England followed the same trend and added animals to the ward, greatly influencing the morale of the patients living there .

Bethel, located in Bielfeld, West Germany, is a center for epileptic patients as well as other mental disorders. In 1867 they began implementing animals into their treatment plans. This tradition continues today, and patients care for dogs, cats, horses, birds, and farm animals .

The first documented case of AAT in the United States was in the military. From 1944-45, the Army Air Force Convalescent Center in Pawling, New York used dogs, horses, and other farm animals to rehabilitate airmen . After the war the program ended and no records exist today to tell of its results.

The first documented child psychologist to use companion animals as a diagnostic and therapeutic technique was Boris Levinson, an American . In the 1970’s he wrote reports of its effectiveness, but his colleagues dismissed it as a useless concept. Still though, Levinson was able to prove in a questionnaire of over four hundred psychotherapists that over one third of them had used animals in their practice at some point and 58 percent had recommended pets for their patients. More than half of the therapists believed children’s adjustment problems like depression, anxiety, phobias, and schizophrenia could be treated with the help of an animal. So although Levinson was publicly ridiculed for his research in AAT, he was uncovering a growing trend in this society .

Later in the same decade, Dr. Samuel and Elizabeth Corson reviewed AAT in an institutional setting . Working with patients that had already failed to respond to any other form of treatment, the researchers provided each individual with their own dog or cat for the duration of the study. It was important to pair the patient with an animal that had a similar personality; the dogs were classified as either “aggressively friendly”, “shy-type friendly”, or “withdrawn, extremely shy”. In the sessions that followed, the patients were much more open with the therapist, answering questions more thoroughly. Subjectively, the patients seemed to be happier overall, and only 3 of the 50 patients failed to respond to this treatment .

Pets and Stress

The therapeutic effects of human-animal relationships can be related to changes in physical health as well. An initial study conducted by Friedmann et al. (1980) on coronary heart disease patients suggested that pet owners lived longer than people who did not own pets. They believed this occurred for several reasons. First, owning an animal demands a lot of work and a regular routine. This sense of responsibility can be beneficial for individuals who are retired and do not have any kind of scheduled activity for the day. Second, pets can provide full love and attention unconditionally, unlike humans that often bring negative emotions to a relationship. Humans also demand speech in interactions, while communication with pets can often occur without a spoken word. Finally, maintaining one’s attention on a fish or an animal playing can have a relaxing effect in the same way as holding attention in mediation. Overall, there is a sense of companionship and stress-relief in pet ownership. The results from this research and the theories it provided then provided the basis for several other studies to follow .

In 1988, a study conducted by Julia K. Vormbrock and John M. Grossberg reviewed the physiological effects of petting and talking to dogs. The patients were first selected for positive or neutral opinions of dogs. The researchers discovered that blood pressure was lowest while petting the dogs, slightly higher when talking to the dogs, and highest when speaking with the experimenter. This reduction in blood pressure is important news for individuals with hypertension, and this simple alternative to medicine could be helpful for patients .

Pets can promote kindness in children.

Modern Animal-Assisted Therapy

Animals can be used in a variety of settings – prisons, nursing homes, mental institutions and hospitals, in the home, and in society. They are always analyzed for internal and external parasites before therapy can begin .

Prisons

Pets are given to prisoners to elicit affectionate care from violent individuals. In 1975 at the Lima State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, social worker David Lee presented the inmates with small animals like fish, birds, and gerbils . The inmates were so appreciative of the new creatures that Lee was able to establish a reward system where people could work towards owning one of their own pets. Overall, the inmates did not change so drastically as to suggest they could be sent back into society, but the number of fights did reduce significantly and suicide attempts nearly ceased altogether. Even with their history of violence against humans, they were able to have warm relationships with the pets provided. The relationship between staff and inmates improved as well and positive communication was established .

Nursing Homes

For the elderly, the companionship of owning a pet can be valuable, especially if they do not have any family or friends nearby to visit. The pet loves them in an unconditional way that supports their idea of identity; they can, in effect, make someone feel young and worthwhile again. They also provide an opportunity for fun and relaxation .

Mental Institutions and Hospitals

The conditions of mental institutions have improved over the years, but patients can still have anxiety when they are hospitalized. Dr. Barker and Dr. Dawson (1998) performed a study on the use of AAT in reducing anxiety levels of institutionalized patients. They determined that anxiety levels were significantly reduced in patients with mood disorders and psychotic disorders after a session of AAT. In fact, for the patients with psychotic disorders, those who participated in AAT had twice the reduction in anxiety scores as those who participated in some other form of recreational activity. This suggests the low demands of human-animal interaction was effective for individuals with psychotic disorders as compared to traditional therapy .

The National Capital Therapy Dogs Inc., a non-profit, all-volunteer organization that provides animal-assisted therapy to many people in health facilities, shelters, schools and libraries, has more than fifty teams of pet/human therapist combinations that work with patients that have severe medical conditions. They are able to improve morale for people who are undergoing intense medical treatments, reducing depression and anxiety as well as chronic pain. Walking with the dogs can improve circulation as well, especially for patients who spend most of their day in bed. Advocates for this kind of therapy are optimistic about its potential to impact beneficially the hospitalized population .

Home and Society

Golden Retrievers are often trained as assistance dogs because of their calm demeanor.

It is estimated that 54 million Americans are disabled, representing 20% of the population . Assistance dogs for the blind and deaf are very effective, serving essentially as simple prosthetic devices. They are capable of doing a various chores around the home, and help the individuals navigate in the real world. Additionally, people who own assistance dogs often feel more comfortable in public than those who use canes. Strangers are often a bit wary of their vulnerability when they are carrying a cane, but the dog acts as a symbol of strength and control for the handicapped and can create a bond between animal-lovers .

Some other physical disabilities may include cerebral palsy, epilepsy or seizures, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, or spinal cord injuries . The pets provide primarily a physical service for these individuals, although of course the aspect of companionship exists as well. Other disabilities may be psychological, like agoraphobia, panic attacks, posttraumatic stress disorder, or manic depression . In the case of agoraphobia, a traditional tool in therapy is to recruit a “safe person” to leave the house with each day. This, however, can be problematic because these individuals also have lives of their own and so they are not available all hours of the day. Using “safe pets” instead ensures a constant availability, and the individual can feel comfort knowing that they did not inconvenience anyone in the process .

Animals can also be aware of internal states, and so they can alert individuals of an impending epileptic seizure, diabetic seizure, or a manic episode. They can also go find help when their owner is in the midst of a seizure or episode, and dogs have even been trained with specialized phones to dial 911. Also if the owner has children the dog can be trained to keep the children at a safe distance until it is over .

Researchers believe dogs have the ability to sense impending epileptic seizures because of electrical changes that occur in the brain, in the same way dogs can predict an oncoming thunderstorm . The more dominant viewpoint is that a dog’s extraordinary sense of smell can pick up on sweating or other secretions that occur just before the seizure. Diabetic seizures are easier for the dogs to detect because when blood sugar levels drop, a diabetic’s breath will change from sweet to a sharp ammonia scent. This ability to smell chemical changes is unsurprising when the statistics are taken into account: dogs have an estimated 20 to 40 times more smell sensory receptors than humans and can detect odors with 10 million times more sensitivity .

Equine therapy

Hippotherapy can be an effective treatment for people with physical or mental challenges.

Hippotherapy is the use of horses in therapy. Hippos is the Greek word for horses, and this type of therapy has been effective in treating people with a wide spectrum of problems: physical, behavioral, social, cognitive, and psychological. Patients may have cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome, multiple sclerosis, depression, mental retardation, or spina bifida. Hippotherapy has also been approved by the American Speech and Hearing Association as a treatment method for individuals with speech disorders .

The concept of therapeutic horseback riding has existed for over a century but really became popular after Liz Harwell won the Silver Medal in dressage at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. This victory was particularly impressive because she was nearly paralyzed from the waist down from polio. Elsbeth Bodthker, a Norwegian physical therapist, was inspired by Harwell and established riding groups for disabled children.

Today, hippotherapy programs exist in at least 24 countries. A distinction exists between hippotherapy and therapeutic riding. The American Hippotherapy Association defines hippotherapy as a physical, occupational, and speech-language therapy treatment strategy that utilizes equine movement as part of an integrated intervention program to achieve functional outcomes, while the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATHI) defines therapeutic riding as a riding lesson specially adapted for people with special needs. It is important to note that the goal of both is to integrate body and spirit for the patients in order to improve their condition. In addition, equine assisted psychotherapy (EAP) uses horses for work with persons who have mental health issues. EAP often does not involve riding.

The Delta Society

"In an age of research when it is tempting to reduce human emotions to biochemical reactions and to rely heavily on the technology of medicine, it is refreshing to find that a person’s health may be improved prescribing contact with other living things. Members of the health and allied professions must continue to combine resources, work together in the spirit of cooperation, and never forget to ‘cure when possible but comfort always.’"

—Michael J. McCulloch, MD (1981)

The Delta Society is a non-profit organization that specializes in AAT, currently located in Bellevue, WA . They provide therapy, companion, and service animals for those in need, promoting happier, healthier lives. It was established in the 1970’s by veterinarians Dr. Leo K. Bustad, Dr. R. K. Anderson, Dr. Stanley L. Diesch, Dr. Joe Quigly, and Dr. Alton Hopkins, and psychiatrists (as well as brothers) Dr. Michael J. McCulloch, and Dr. William McCulloch. They all believed that pets had a positive impact on people’s health and overall happiness because of that they had observed in their own lives. They could not, however, begin any drastic changes in therapy until more scientific research was done in the field. As more research on the reduction of blood pressure, stress, and anxiety was released in regards to animal-human relationships, the Delta Society had the scientific evidence to put their theory in practice.

Since then the group has successfully founded Pet Partners – the first standardized training program for AAT, educating both the animals and the handlers . They promote the idea that “both ends of the leash” should be qualified for this kind of therapy. Those who have been certified for therapy visit hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and rehabilitation centers to have a positive effect on the inhabitants that reside there. Pet Partner teams were first certified in 1990 once they passed a set of skill and behavior standards.

A dog working for FEMA interacts with victims of natural disasters to improve morale.

The Delta Society has also distinguished between Animal Assisted Activities (AAA) and Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) . In AAA, the pet is presented to the patient for the general purpose of socialization and morale improvement. In AAT, specific therapeutic goals are set forth; for example, a patient might work on range of motion in physical therapy by playing fetch with a dog. Service animals and therapy animals have also been classified by the Delta Society. Service animals are those that are trained to help people with disabilities perform everyday tasks. On the other hand, therapy animals are introduced to people so that they can experience the therapeutic effects of interacting with them.

Disaster Relief

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) first began using dogs as part of their relief efforts in 2004 when Buddy the Golden Retriever visited Florida after Hurricane Charlie. Dogs used in the Canine Disaster Relief help to relieve the anxiety many victims of natural disasters feel, and bring them hope for their future. Acting as "psychological first aid" they are able to ease emotional stress when families interact with them . Dogs have also been used after the attack on 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Oklahoma City Bombing.

Criticism of zootherapy or animal-assisted therapy

Zootherapy supposedly contributes to better health, stimulates good conduct in children, redeems delinquents, helps autistic and disabled children improve, increases the survival rate of cancer patients, facilitates social interactions, relieves loneliness and helps animals improve their lot. But where is the proof to these claims?

How science works

In science, there are basically two approaches to conducting research:

1. Descriptive or hypothesis-generating studies (qualitative studies). These are presented in the form of anecdotal reports. This kind of study is extremely useful in identifying novel phenomena. They help form a hypothesis, which must then be validated by more controlled studies. They rarely demonstrate the value of a treatment or the existence of a causal relationship. Anecdotal reports and expert opinions are the weakest form of medical evidence. Unless they are documented by hard facts, they do not make a science.

2. Studies designed to test a hypothesis (quantitative studies). Newly discovered phenomena are tested with experimental studies that utilize carefully constructed control groups and allow for the possibility that the hypothesis being tested is false large-scale epidemiologic surveys. In other words, it is not enough to “know” something is true; one must prove it by following standard protocols. These are devised to eliminate any biases, which could influence the results and conclusions of a study and thus lead a scientist astray. The objective of good science is more about disproving a theory than proving it. Good science always leaves the door open to revision of accepted truths. Science.

Doubt is their product

But one must be extra cautious here because a study of the second type mentioned above can be as flawed as one from the first category. The psychological hang-ups and mental mechanisms of its users being the principal Achilles’ heel of science, before yelling “Eureka!” one must consider the quality of the scientific methodology used, the source of financing, as well as the affiliations of the researchers.

It is a well-known fact that mercenaries of science employed by firms that specialize in misinformation strive to influence public opinion by distorting the data of the studies that do not go their way or by publishing fake studies in journals belonging to the industries and even in well-respected independent journals.

As the public and the media in general know virtually nothing of the scientific method, it is relatively easy to fool them with trustworthy words such as “study”, “science”, “research”, “doctor”, etc. or by manufacturing doubt by publishing inaccurate or misleading scientific data. This technique of creating doubt or confusion is called agnotology.It is detailed in several books such as Doubt is their product. How Industry’s assault on Science Threatens Your Health by British epidemiologist David Michaels. In short, the main objective is to take every means possible to protect the already established markets and develop new ones whatever the consequences in the medium and long term.

Where does zootherapy stand?

Almost all of the studies on the benefits of pets fit into the first category. The contributions of pioneers like New York psychiatrist Boris Levinson are merely simple anecdotal observations rather than scientific experiments. Yet these are the type of studies that are used by the pet industry to promote the benefits of zootherapy.

In a beacon article published in 1984 in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, American scientists Alan M. Beck and Aaron Honori Katcher warned of the poor quality of research being conducted in animal-assisted therapy. They debunked the claimed benefits of pets so thoroughly that it is a wonder that the pet industry bothers to continue “research” in this field with such unrelenting intensity.

In 1997, epidemiologist Dr. T. Allen reported in the above publication, “Most reports describing the effects of human-canine interactions fall into categories at the bottom of the hierarchy ladder [of scientific validity].” Drs. K. A. Kruger and J. A. Serpell concluded: “While impressive in their variety and scope, not a single theory has been adequately tested empirically, and most studies have returned equivocal or conflicting results when the necessary testing has been attempted.” A finding corroborated in 2010 by scientists Anna Chur-Hansen, Cindy Stern and Helen Winefield.

Funding

Big Pharma and pet food corporations fund the bulk of research in the fields of pet therapy. The priority is given to studies on the benefits of animals on human health (on which the market depends) and on animal welfare (which has a positive impact in terms of image and revenue).

The industry has its own promotional outfits, such as the Delta Society (see above), and scientific journals such as Anthrözoos, the journal of the International Society for Anthropology, an affiliate of Waltham-Mars, one of the largest manufacturers of pet food in the world. That being said, funding by the industry would not be such a problem if the flaws in the science were not so important and persistent in time.

Alleged esoteric nature of pets

Some proponents of this therapy claim that animals possess unique properties, of undetermined nature. Kruger, K.A. & J.A. Serpell (2008). Book cited.</ref> However, this claim is farfetched. Animals have no magical power. There is unequivocal evidence that robots designed for this purpose do just as well without the problems associated with the use of animals (this technology is developing at lighting speed mainly in Japan).

Alleged Educational Benefits

Parents buy animals for their children not only for the company, but also because they believe that having a pet will teach their kids to become better human beings—more loving, responsible, and respectful, not only towards their own kind, but also in regards to nature and other species in general. It is commonly thought that children who are raised with a pet have a greater sense of empathy and compassion.

None of these assertions is true.

The Nazis for instance were quite fond of pets and animals in general but it certainly didn’t stop them from committing the worst atrocities ever recorded.

If you think having a pet makes children more loving and respectful of other species and nature, think again. The problem is in the very concept of pet. An animal constrained to life in an environment that is not its own is subjected to an almost constant disequilibrium. Impoverished by captivity, bored by inactivity, it necessarily develops a host of neurotic behaviors due to the emotional ties of total dependence and to the lack of factors that it needs to incarnate its true nature.

Says psychiatrist Hubert Montagner in a speech given in 1998 at the French Information Center on Pets:

"Man does not hesitate to control every aspect of his animals’ existence. He tampers with his appearance. He confines it to spaces under his control, imposing exclusive or near-exclusive proximity. He limits his communication with others like it. He selects for behaviors that meet his expectations and conditions his animal to follow rituals. He imposes his whims and self-serving decisions. He encloses it within his own emotions and projections."

Such systematic violation is the very negation of true love and empathy.

And various shows of affection do not make things right. Professor Yi-Fu Tuan of Yale University shows in his book Dominance and Affection: The Making of Pets how affection, a latent form of violence, is used as an instrument of power:

“Love is not what makes the world go around. […] There remains affection. However, affection is not the opposite of dominance: rather it is dominance’s anodyne – it is dominance with a human face. Dominance may be cruel and exploitative, with no hint of affection in it. What it produces is the victim. On the other hand, dominance may be combined with affection, and what it produces is the pet. […] Affection mitigates domination, making it softer and more acceptable, but affection itself is possible only in relationships of inequality. It is the warm and superior feeling one has towards things that one can care for and patronize. The word care so exudes humaneness that we tend to forget its almost inevitable tainting by patronage and condescension.”

Alleged General Health Benefits

If you think walking the dog keeps you fit, think again. In a comparative study (a type 2 study), professor Mike Kelly of Greenwich University showed that walking without a dog is far healthier than walking with one. Because of the dog’s numerous “pit stops” along the way – which the researchers called “lamppost syndrome” – the owner’s heart is never sufficiently stimulated to benefit. After only 14 weeks, the weight, cholesterol levels, and blood pressures of the non-owners were much lower than of those of the group that owned dogs. Overall, the general health of the group without four-legged companions was much better than that of the group saddled with canine company.

Friedman's study on the effects of pets on the heart has very little scientific validity. Yet this study is cited over and over by the pet industry (see above).

A Finnish study published in 2006, which surveyed 21,000 Finnish adults aged 20 to 54, is one of the few independent studies that has looked at the effects of pets on the general population. In this type 2 study (one designed to test a hypothesis), scientists Leena K. Koivusilta and Ansa Ojanlatva showed that pet owners are sick more often and do a below-average amount of exercise: 26% of the pet owners in the study were overweight, compared with 21% for those who did not have pets; 16% of the pet owners exercised less than once a month in comparison to 2% for those without pets. The risk of having health problems is from 10% to 20% higher in pet owners than in non-pet owners, even when factors such as age and socio-economic level are considered. This is comparable to the risk in bachelors, widowers, and divorcees. Overall, this study associated pet ownership with poor, rather than good, health.

Alleged Benefits for Disabled and Autistic children

In 2007, in a paper entitled “Dolphin-Assisted Therapy: More Flawed Data and More Flawed Conclusions,” Emory University psychologists Lori Marino and Scott Lilienfeld concluded: “Nearly a decade following our initial review, there remains no compelling evidence that Dolphin-Assisted therapy (DAT) is a legitimate therapy, or that it affords any more than a fleeting improvement in mood. [...] The claims for efficacy of DAT remain invalid. [...] The studies [reviewed] were either too small, prone to some obvious bias, or offered no long-term perspective. [...] The evidence that it [DAT] produces enduring improvement in the core symptoms of any psychological disorder is nil. […]”

What Marino and Lilienfeld have found about dolphin-assisted therapy is true for any type of animal-assisted therapy. After more than 60 years of intense “research” and countless articles published there is no evidence to this day that animal therapy works to combat any form of disability, disease, or condition, psychological or otherwise.

Alleged Redeeming Benefits for Prisoners

Some of the most influential studies on the redeeming qualities of pets, like the prison study of David Lee, were never published in scientific journals. These “studies”, were never pier reviewed, according to scientists Beck and Katcher, “they were taken from published proceedings, documentary films, personal communications, or internal documents. There were also frequent citations from articles in the popular press and newsletters.”

Alleged Social Benefits

Despite the commonplace belief that pets offer their owners an opportunity for increased contact with other people, French sociologist Jean Yonnet explains that the opposite is more likely true:

“The twice-daily obligation of taking one’s dog for a walk appears to be insufficient to promote the social interactions attributed to zootherapy, and all the more so for cats, which are more popular than dogs and hardly ever leave their apartments. In addition, the presence of an animal on the street can be just as easily an obstacle to haphazard social interaction as a facilitator of it. In reality, the dog walker often has to keep far away from others because of the fear he arouses (in children, in the presence of other, incompatible dogs, out of fear of allergies or of dogs in general).”

People whose lives are socially unsatisfactory often try to spice things up by acquiring an animal, but there is no evidence to this day that having a pet truly relieves loneliness. Sharing thoughts and feelings with a person, animal, or object that cannot challenge you may lead to emotional hyper-dependence. Children, as well as immature adults, are particularly vulnerable to the trap. This phenomenon of psychological transference is well known to psychologists. In other words, the contemplation of self through the distorting prism of an object or an animal that will not or cannot set you straight is both a shelter and a danger.

The systematic escape from existential problems short-circuits one of nature’s most potent agents of change: sorrow. Only sorrow can make us appreciate the urgent need of change. Those who avoid it at all costs suffer countless negative effects on their relationships and on life in general. Escapism has become a way of life in our consumer society.

Alleged Effects on Cancer Patients

Some children undergoing chemotherapy are said to be calmer and to have a better attitude in the presence of an animal, as shown by a lower-than-normal cortisol level in their blood. This is an empirical measure of their psychological state, but the observation says little about the effectiveness of the treatment. Also in question is the link of the animal itself to the observed decrease in anxiety. It could have more to do with the novelty of the situation, the demonstration of interest in the child, or the presence of a reassuring person close by. A game, a clown, a parent, or a friend might be just as effective if not more so, as many children are uncomfortable with animals.

One-dimensional thought

It is seldom said, but the claimed benefits of pets and animals in general are a result of one-dimensional thought, an approach to thinking that dates back at least to the Ancient Greeks. Most monotheistic religions, notably Christianity, were constructed around this mental template. In this logic, skepticism and doubt are eliminated from our reasoning skills; what lies underneath, in the shadows, is an invitation to chaos, disease, and ill fate, to be avoided at all costs; only positive thoughts, words, and deeds that generate gratifying actions and feelings that booster self-esteem are encouraged. Although short-lived, self-esteem is a well-documented tranquilizer.

More recently, in the 19th century, American pragmatist Charles Pierce played a vital role in promoting this one-sided approach to reality. The purpose was to eliminate any thought or action that could hinder progress and the flow of business. Thanks to compulsory schooling, a Prussian invention of that epoch, obedience and respect for experts and arbitrary authority became second nature. The hold of this mindset took another turn in the fifties during the witch-hunting era of McCarthyism. Because of the threat of communism, the teaching of efficient critical thought was eliminated from most university curricula in the West with the intent of curbing dissension.

One-dimensional thought is a bogus quick-fix, an unfruitful attempt to flee from the harsh realities of the human condition.

Pseudoscience

When brief psychotherapies were introduced in the 1960s, positive thinking was popularized almost to the point of becoming a religion. These therapeutic methods were not conceived to cure, but rather to soothe patients just enough so they could go back to work and lead a so-called normal life. Zootherapy, or animal-assisted therapy, which became trendy at that time, is an offshoot of this line of thinking, as the following quote from Dr. Levinson clearly establishes:

“The magnitude of the problem [troubled children] is so great that, within the foreseeable future, it will be impossible to meet these mental hygiene needs through conventional psychiatric channels. Some other resource must be found to alleviate distress, even if only temporarily. Such results can be achieved through the use of pets—as therapeutic agents.”

The word “therapeutic” used by Dr. Levinson is misleading, though. While a session with a pet can elicit positive feelings and enthusiasm, so can travel, movies, friends, children, clowns, and ice cream. The effect is anything but therapeutic in the true medical sense of the word, meaning “curative.” The words “placebo”, “quick-fix” or “recreational” are more appropriate. This distinction is vital because most people active in the field of pet-assisted therapy, or psychotherapy for that matter, use the word “therapy” to rationalize the edification of this aspirin into science, and by the same token, increase its perceived value and consumption.

Scientific language alone does not make a science. In fact, one of the hallmarks of pseudoscience is the use of such language—along with sensationalism—to cover its failures. The therapeutic value of zootherapy is of the same nature as that of gambling, binge eating, and drinking: it provides a transient, feel-good experience, but at a high cost not only to people but to animals.

In the end, do you really think children will learn how to love and be better human beings by doing the strange things advocated with such enthusiasm by Dr. Boris Levinson the founder of zootherapy?

"Let us very briefly consider the psychological characteristics of pets, which permit them to become objects and collaborators in our sexual activity. Our handling and conditioning of our pets make it easy for them both to submit to our sexual drives and to enjoy participating in them. Take the dog, for example. When a puppy is taken away from the bitch at the relatively early age of 4 or 5 weeks, made to live exclusively with people and denied the companionship of other dogs, it may become imprinted on human beings and regard its master as a preferred sex mate. Furthermore, dogs mature sexually at 6 to 9 months of age and begin to exhibit sexual behavior, which may be exciting to some pet owners. Some children are led into sexual activity in this manner. Dogs which have been adopted at an early age are easily trainable and may be conditioned for whatever purpose their master has in mind. Lap dogs, for example, are easily taught to engage in cunnilingus. Furthermore, some dogs are easily excited from contact with menstruating women. […] For a child masturbation with an animal is to be preferred to solitary masturbation."

These bizarre ideas follow quite naturally from the concept of zootherapy. The immorality of making a pet out of an animal opens the door to every conceivable type of exploitation.

Further reading

• Fox, Michael W. (1990). Inhumane Society: The American Way of Exploiting Animals. St. Martin’s Press.
• Gatto John Taylor. Dumbing Us Down: The hidden curricula of compulsory schooling. New Society Publishers; 2002
• Havel, Vaclav (1997). Living in Truth. Faber and Faber.
• Kassirer, JP (2005) On the Take: How Medicine’s Complicity with Big Business Can Endanger your Health. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Marcuse, Herbert (1964). One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society. Beacon Press.
• Michaels, David (2008). Doubt is Their Product. How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens your Health. Oxford University Press.
• Park, Robert (2000). Voodoo science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud. Oxford University Press.
• Rampton S. and J. Stauber (2001). Trust us, We’re experts! How Industry Manipulates Science, and Gambles with your future. New York: Center for media and democracy.
• Shermer, Michael (2002). Why People Believe Weird Things. Préface de Stephen Jay Gould. W.H. Freeman; (2001). The Borderlands of Science: Where Science Meets Nonsense. Oxford University Press.
• Szasz, Kathleen (1968). Petichism: Pet Cults in the Western World. Hutchison.
• Tuan, Yi-Fu (1998). Dominance and Affection: The Making of Pets. Yale University Press; (1998). Escapism. The Johns Hopkins University Press.
• West, Patrick (2004). Conspicuous Compassion: Why Sometimes It Is Really Cruel to Be Kind. Civitas.

External links

• Rebecca Skloot, "Creature Comforts", New York Times, December 31, 2008