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The idea that animals have healing powers reaches back to the dawn of human
civilization. The Mayans, for example, believed that each of us is given a "soul
animal" to  serve as a
protective guide in earthly life. The Egyptian deity Anubis, physician of the
gods, bore a canine head. In ancient Greece, the healing cult of Aesculapius
used dogs to lick the sick with their tongues. Florence Nightingale promoted pet
ownership as a way to ease the suffering of the chronically ill.
One of the earliest recorded uses of structured animal therapy was at the York
Retreat in England, which was founded in 1792 as an alternative to conventional
therapy at “lunatic asylums” of the period. Patients at the York Retreat were
taught self-control as they were charged with the routine care of animals in the
program. This program became a model for reform of other asylums.
In the United States, the first organized use of animal therapy was at the Army
Air Corps Convalescent Center in Pauling, New York near the end of WWII. This program was run by the
American Red Cross and included a working farm as well as pet animals.
In the early 1960’s,
Dr. Boris Levinson, an American child psychiatrist, incorporated animals into his practice. He introduced the term “pet-facilitated therapy.”
He was the first to
formally document his findings. He found that animals functioned as
transitional objects with which the patients can bond, eventually leading to a
bond with the therapist.
In 1980 Dr. Friedman publishes a paper citing greater
post-MI one-year survival rates in patients that own pets. In 1984 Baun
publishes his often cited paper of patients BP lowering in response to petting
dogs. In 1990 Dr. William Thomas created the Eden Alternative,
which established animals as a mainstay in most elderly communities. He wanted
to bring the natural world, including animals, into long-term health care
facilities to decrease loneliness and boredom.
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