摘要：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.
