Laboratoire Ethos, Ethologie Animal et Humaine, Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, France.
Ann Ist Super Sanita. 2011;47(4):397-408. doi: 10.4415/ANN_11_04_12.
Humans have a long history of relationship with domestic animals and nowadays pets often act as "social substitutes" through bonding. There is some evidence that pet presence at home may induce well being in people and the development of social skills in children. Animal assisted therapies aim at developing these skills in patients on the basis of human animal interactions. Experimental data obtained on animal models suggest that this is indeed a promising line. There is however a lack of clear scientific data that would help defines what the most appropriate procedures or species may be. Improvements are observed, but again sound scientific data are mostly missing. Attention must be given to the welfare of the animals being used.
人类与家养动物有着悠久的历史，如今宠物通常通过建立感情纽带充当“社交替代品”。有证据表明，宠物在家中存在可能会给人们带来幸福感，并培养儿童的社交技能。动物辅助疗法旨在基于人类与动物的互动来培养患者的这些技能。从动物模型获得的实验数据表明，这确实是一条有前途的途径。但是，缺乏有助于确定最适当的程序或物种的明确科学数据。已经观察到了改善，但同样缺乏可靠的科学数据。必须关注所使用动物的福利。
