TY - JOUR
T1 - Animals in Animal-Assisted Services
T2 - Are They Volunteers or Professionals?
AU - Wijnen, Brigitte
AU - Martens, Pim
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.
PY - 2022/9/26
Y1 - 2022/9/26
N2 - With the increasingly common practice of Animal-Assisted Services (AAS), whether in therapy, coaching, education, or volunteering programs, the concern over animal welfare has also risen. However, no standards have yet been established for good practices to ensure the animal's mental health. This is largely due to the wide variety of roles played by animals in interventions and the lack of 'job descriptions' for the animal in diverse settings. Some professionals call their animal a 'volunteer', others mention that some directive guidance is given to the therapy animal, and some assistance animals are highly trained. Misunderstandings could be avoided if the integrated animal were to receive a justifiable label: volunteer or professional. Choosing either one comes with obligations for the owner, handler, or therapist. In this paper, we compare the roles of human volunteers and professionals to the roles of animals involved in therapy. We also demonstrate the obligations that come along with the decision to label animals as such either volunteers or professionals. Furthermore, we make a plea for animal-friendly interventions, whether in a volunteer position or as a professional, in order to stimulate the animal's cooperation and motivation. Studying dopamine and translating the findings into context-ethograms can provide a way to judge behavior more objectively.
AB - With the increasingly common practice of Animal-Assisted Services (AAS), whether in therapy, coaching, education, or volunteering programs, the concern over animal welfare has also risen. However, no standards have yet been established for good practices to ensure the animal's mental health. This is largely due to the wide variety of roles played by animals in interventions and the lack of 'job descriptions' for the animal in diverse settings. Some professionals call their animal a 'volunteer', others mention that some directive guidance is given to the therapy animal, and some assistance animals are highly trained. Misunderstandings could be avoided if the integrated animal were to receive a justifiable label: volunteer or professional. Choosing either one comes with obligations for the owner, handler, or therapist. In this paper, we compare the roles of human volunteers and professionals to the roles of animals involved in therapy. We also demonstrate the obligations that come along with the decision to label animals as such either volunteers or professionals. Furthermore, we make a plea for animal-friendly interventions, whether in a volunteer position or as a professional, in order to stimulate the animal's cooperation and motivation. Studying dopamine and translating the findings into context-ethograms can provide a way to judge behavior more objectively.
U2 - 10.3390/ani12192564
DO - 10.3390/ani12192564
M3 - Article
C2 - 36230304
SN - 2076-2615
VL - 12
JO - Animals
JF - Animals
IS - 19
M1 - 2564
ER -