For Pet’s Sake: Being the animal advocate in animal-assisted interactions

The main goal in the applications of animal-assisted interventions has largely been geared toward benefiting and ensuring the safety of the human. While this will always remain the principal concern, it must be balanced with advocating for the safety and welfare of the animal. Attention to this facet of these activities helps to promote the success and longevity of the animal’s career as well as the animal’s long-term health. The individual animal-assisted activity session cannot realistically rely on the overseeing organization or facility to monitor and enforce regulations, which leaves the handler with the responsibility of attending to the animal’s needs. Therefore, it is essential that the handler be properly educated regarding the risks of these activities and how to manage them. Currently, there is limited evidence to identify significant threats to animal health and welfare in animal-assisted interventions. These risks generally include trauma from accidents or rough handling, transmission of infectious disease, and induction of stress for the animal. Handlers should utilize best practice protocols to minimize these risks, which include accident prevention, infectious disease control, and recognition of behavioral cues of stress. A growing area of research is the effect of animal-assisted interventions on physiologic and behavioral indicators of animal stress, which may influence the way in which animals are used in these activities. Warranted future areas of research include health and welfare outcomes of animals used in animal-assisted interventions as well as the effect of the handler on these outcomes.

Zenithson Ng is currently a combined American Board of Veterinary Practitioners resident and master’s student in human-animal bond studies at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and CENTAUR (Center for Animal-Human Relationships). He earned his undergraduate degree in animal science from Rutgers University and veterinary degree from Cornell University. He completed a small animal rotating internship at the Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital of the ASPCA in New York City before entering the program. His interests span all aspects of the human-animal bond including animal assisted interventions, veterinary-client communications, euthanasia, and grief counseling.