What is Animal-Assisted Therapy?
The value of animals in promoting healing and growth is becoming increasingly recognized among professional care providers, clinical practitioners, and educators. Today trained and certified animal/handler teams are used in medical, psychiatric, rehabilitation, and special education facilities throughout the world to provide a medium for assisting individuals where traditional methods fall short.
Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is goal-oriented, documented, and supervised by health care and education professionals. What makes animal-assisted therapy unique is that animals, not humans, do the real work. Time and again, our four-footed "therapists" have elicited nearly miraculous responses from deeply troubled or abused children, physically traumatized hospital patients, and even those who are terminally ill.
Only domesticated animals may become Pet Partners, including dogs, cats, horses, llamas, and others. Wild or exotic animals (snakes, ferrets, lizards, etc.) may NOT be Pet Partners.
Your pet may be suitable for AAT if:
- Your pet has lived with you for at least 6 months.
- Your pet is at least one year old.
- Your pet enjoys and seeks interaction with people.
- Your pet is bathed regularly.
- Your pet lives mainly indoors (dog or cat).
- Your pet is generally non-aggressive toward people and other animals.
- Your pet knows basic obedience commands appropriate to the species.
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