Animal Therapy Benefits

Studies prove that animals therapy and service animals can improve a person’s emotional health. Jodie and Arthur Toms, parents of ten children, have seen first-hand the powerful impact animals can have on a young person. Their son has always loved being outside with animals so they decided to buy him an inside friend, Scooby, then all of a sudden he started to smile again, then they brought their sheep up onto the verandah so he could play with them, the odd chicken and duck. The more their son was able to play with his animals the more his cheeky smiles would return. Mrs. Toms stated, “The animals keep him calm... we started learning to sign the animals on the farm with him and he is now starting to use verbal language again” (Cassidy).
Along with the positive emotional impact that animals have on Xander and the other children that attend Ody’s Acres, therapy dogs may improve the emotional well-being of some cancer patients, according to results of a clinical study, the first to document the benefits of animal-assisted therapy in adult cancer patients. Increases in emotional well-being were significant over the course of the animal-assisted visits, even as patients underwent significant declines in both physical and functional well-being. "There is mounting evidence in human and veterinary medicine that the emotional bond between people and companion animals can have a positive impact of emotional and physical health," said J. Michael
"They learn how to make them feel safe, they cuddle up to them and they see the parallels with their own experience. It's quite amazing" (Miller). “Case workers say they can see the results in the smiles and laughter of the children. They watch as a silent child, dwelling on the past, can be nudged back to the present by the attention-seeking headbutt of a pet” (Miller). Not only do animals comfort humans, they can also lower the statistics of suicide by making their person feel obligated to take care of the animal. “She trains him, feeds him, plays with him, and gives him a bath when he needs one.” (McGrath p.12 ) Animals allow people to feel important since the animal needs them they would not want to leave their companion behind. There was also a study on how assistance animals perform their purpose in a library setting. They found that these assistance animals can be trained to accommodate a wide spectrum of disability-related needs; furthermore, some of these animals are trained to perform complex tasks tailored to the distinct needs of a specific individual with a disability. Helping with emotional or mental health difficulties and vision and cognition impairments is also within the purview of assistance