If you have animals at home, you’ll understand the wellbeing benefits of owning a pet.

The simple act of stroking a dog is believed to relieve stress. While time spent with animals is also said to have a positive effect on disorders and conditions ranging from depression to addiction.

While your pet might be your best friend and therapist combined, the use of animals as therapy in institutions outside the family home is on the rise globally, and across a surprising array of fields.

But there are pros and cons to the use of living creatures as a means of therapy.

Keep reading for a closer look.

The benefits of animal therapy in UK care homes are well understood

According to the veterinary charity PDSA, 52% of UK adults own a pet, with an estimated pet population that includes:

• 2 million dogs
• 1 million cats
• 1 million rabbits

Pets can help to combat loneliness through companionship, improve mobility by encouraging exercise, and reduce stress.

For the more than 400,000 UK adults currently living in UK care homes, a therapy animal can make a real difference in the quality of life.

As well as providing friendship and a sense of joy, the arrival of pets into care homes can also spark increased sociability and help to trigger memories. Therapy pets can be especially helpful for those suffering from conditions like dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Alzeimers.net reports that as well as companionship, and help with anxiety and depression, “It’s not uncommon to watch someone transition from emotionless to joyful when a pet enters the room, especially if it triggers pleasant memories.”

There are some important factors to consider when using pet therapy, whatever the field. These include:

• Always staying attuned to how an animal is feeling and how an animal’s temperament matches the environment
• Being mindful of overstimulation for both the therapy pet and those receiving therapy
• Understanding that both animals and humans can be unpredictable and what works for one group on one day might not have the same effect on another occasion.

Animals can be used for rehabilitation or to treat mental health

Back in 2019, the Scotsman reported on the use of animals at the State Hospital in Lanarkshire.

As well as treating some of Scotland’s most dangerous psychiatric patients, the hospital is also home to 124 animals. These include hens, goats, Flop the rabbit, and Wee Jon the guinea pig, as well as 15 ducks, 40 chickens, 25 aviary birds and 30 goldfish.

Professor John Crichton, chairman of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, told the Scotsman that “contact with an animal can help patients connect in a way that talking or other activities can fail to do”.

It isn’t just hospitals where animals can have a beneficial effect.

The Centre for Mental Health looked at the mental health impact of therapy dogs in prisons. One participant told interviewers that “dogs have a magic effect on you, you can feel their love and that just makes you feel better inside you”.

A mental health clinician quoted in the same report confirmed that a participant in the scheme was “much more willing to engage in his treatment since the scheme began […] he talks much more now and a lot of it is about his experience of the therapy dog”.

The respectful and ethical use of animals is key

Set up to enhance the field of human-animal interaction, the International Association of Human-Animal Interaction Organizations (IAHAIO) encourages research and education in animal-assisted therapy and animal training.

They aim to promote pet ownership and respectful approaches to engaging with animals. The beneficial effects of animal therapy “are scientifically proven,” they say. But are “difficult to prove statistically because they are on an emotional level”.

The organisation has been working hard to ensure those offering pet therapy services do so professionally and ethically. Sadly, this hasn’t always been the case and is a worrying aspect of the rise in animal therapy worldwide.

As part of its work to improve standards and ethics, the IAHAIO has had to bring in guidelines banning the use of exotic species like monkeys, reptiles, and even dolphins.

The risks attached to using these animals include inhumane conditions, issues of safety, and the potential for the spreading of disease.

The Bark and Read Foundation

When used in appropriate settings and within defined standards of practice, pet therapy can deliver inspiring results.

One scheme – centred on animal welfare and best-case outcomes for all parties – is known as “Bark and Read”. Funded by The Kennel Club Educational Trust, it helps to develop and encourage literacy in children through the use of reading dogs.

Reading doesn’t come naturally to all children and for many, reading to an adult can be stressful and demoralising.

Allowing these same children to read to dogs, though, can mean a child’s confidence and reading skills thrive. Dogs can have a calming influence, and their non-critical, non-judgemental ears mean they are the perfect audience for a child grappling with new literacy skills.

The ability to read aloud can increase confidence and sociability, improving self-esteem, and a sense of self-worth.

It can also make reading fun, for the child and the dog alike!