Lesson 2 - The Role of the animals in human lives
2023-10-10
Theory of Felinotherapy I
NCHK Internet course
Term :
Lesson 2 - Relationship of humans to animals, the old role of animals in zootherapy
"The middle of the twentieth century proved to be a troubled time for the relationship of humans to animals. Perhaps most significantly in agriculture, which was transformed from a symbiotic, ancient contract with animals that benefited both humans and animals into an exploitative, industrialized pursuit of utility, profit, and productivity. The traditional notion based on the gentle care of animals - extolled in Psalm 23 (The Lord is my shepherd...) into a powerful metaphor for God's ideal relationship with humans - has been demeaned by "the application of industrial methods to animal production" as one animal science textbook puts it.
Equally significant, in less than 100 years, the number of people engaged in an agricultural way of life has declined from half the population to less than 2%. The close connection between shepherd and herd, pastoralist and cattle, has been lost in the pursuit of modernisation. At roughly the same historical moment, the use of animals in biomedical research and toxicology skyrocketed, hence the further erosion of the close and mythic connection of the more "primitive" societies enjoying the company of animals, again relegating animals to disposable utilitarian objects without soul or awareness.
In the face of this cataclysm, one could reasonably fear the loss of the mystical significance of animals to the human psyche, the supernatural perspective so beautifully expressed in ancient Lascaux cave paintings or in American Indian idols, beads and rituals. The dominance of urban life, far removed from nature and animals, and the rise of the mechanistic worldview ( Weltanschauung ) and its handmaiden technology seemed to threaten our intimate connection with animals and its archetypal place in our consciousness. Fortunately, archetypes are not so easily abandoned. The place for animals in human consciousness has not been lost, but only transformed. The integral role of animals in everyday life has certainly been transformed by the process of modernism, but it has by no means been eliminated; instead, it has taken on new forms more suited to urban life and a highly industrialized society.
In the first place, the new and exclusively exploitative use of animals that we have depicted did not go unchallenged for long. The natural reverence for animals, once integral and inherent to the cattegoreal apparatus through which we understand the world, has evolved into a moral concern for their treatment, and this has proved to be a major social and ethical movement demanding controls directed against the relentless commodification (abuse, degradation) of animals. The massive upsurge in thinking about ethical issues concerning animals and the environment clearly demonstrates human unwillingness to give up our connection with animals and nature.
Second, the alienation and loneliness born of urbanization, the erosion of the nuclear and extended family, the spread of divorce, the phenomenon of children with the key to the apartment around their necks, our vastly expanding life spans, and the general tendency of large cities to form a society (Geselschaft) rather than a community, along with the pervasive human need to love and be loved and needed, have heralded a new function for animal companions as fillers of vacated space. The vast majority of pet owners today affirm that their animals are "members of the family".
Thus, it was not surprising that animals emerged as powerful allies in therapeutic and psychotherapeutic initiatives. As non-judgmental, inexhaustible fountains of love and devotion, animals were natural agents for breaking into the shell surrounding the disturbed, isolated, and mentally or psychologically challenged, as well as alleviating urban loneliness and facilitating interpersonal interactions (e.g., the "doggie" culture in big cities)."
Dr. Bernard E. Rollin
University Distinguished Professor
Department of Philosophy
Colorado State University
(Excerpt from the foreword to Handbook on Animal Assisted Therapy, Aubrey H. Fine, USA)
"After the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, we witnessed dogs, with no prior testing or training for AAT or AAA, eagerly helping to locate victims and showing great tolerance for human emotions and the chaos that reigned at the scene. At the same time, there were also reports of dogs who had undergone routine training and testing growling at other dogs or being so traumatized that they ignored everyone but their handler."
MAUREEN FREDRICKSON-MACNAMARA, KRIS BUTLER, Handbook on Animal Assisted Therapy, Aubrey H. Fine, USA
A new approach to team testing for AAA and AAT
The inclusion of cats, and many other species of animals, in assistance and therapy programs has undergone major changes. Whereas in the 1970s, these programs in the U.S.A.-especially those visiting nursing homes and long-term care facilities-worked with animals from shelters, the 1980s somewhat dampened the initial enthusiasm for incorporating these animals. In particular, there were concerns about the safety of the clients, both in terms of possible injuries caused by the animals and the possibility of introducing infections and parasites. On the other hand, shelter workers pointed out that, especially for young animals, these visits can cause such severe trauma that it is then difficult to offer them for adoption. As a result of these concerns, risk management emerged in the targeted facilities and ways were sought to best test the animals worked with in the area.
By the 1990s, this management was also gradually beginning to place more emphasis on animal welfare and health and on the role of the handler - that is, the person who forms an assistive or therapeutic team with the animal.
In 1996, the Delta Society (now Pet Partners) published Standards of Practice for AAT and AAA. These standards already defined the role of the handler and the animal in these activities, but were still primarily focused on mitigating concerns about potential risks to clients.
When the term "feline therapy" first appeared in the Czech Republic, it was 2002. The Independent Kennel Club was the first organisation to work with cats during visits to target facilities. In the same year, the Rules of Practice were drawn up, followed a year later by the Standards of Practice and the Methodology. The great advantage was that the organized felinotherapy was based on the veterinary conditions given by the exhibition and breeding rules of the organization, so there were no problems with ignorance and untrained volunteer handlers.
The opportunity to participate in international seminars organized by the Filia association from Brno and the possibility to discuss with university experts from the Czech Republic and abroad was an invaluable help.
As this was a completely new activity, for which there was no comparable model, it was necessary to establish by trial and error both the rules for the inclusion of talented cats in the activities and to define the basic activities suitable for teams consisting of a cat and a handler, or combined teams, where another handler with a dog or another type of animal was represented.
The trial rules for the visiting service prepared by the NCHK were based on the trial rules for canister therapy, in particular the trial rules of SVOPAP and other organisations.
With the gradual development of felinotherapy, its extension to social care facilities, educational establishments and residential homes, the question began to arise whether the existing examination rules were still sufficient. The trials took place either at the breeders' meetings, i.e. in an artificial environment, or directly in the target facility. The model that worked best was the one where the person interested in felinotherapy for a long time came with a handler, who had been working in the facility for a long time, to joint meetings with the clients, could consider for himself whether this was really an activity he wanted to do and gradually added his cat. If everything went well, after a while he could make visits on his own.
The problem with the NCHK is that it is a nationwide organization with the impossibility of having a single coordinator for all the facilities because it is not a paid job. So ways of supervision and ways of coordinating the work were sought.
A great help was the acquisition of the publication Handbook on Animal Assisted Therapy from the USA. This is a unique publication and among many other chapters, it contains a chapter on how to select animals for AAT and AAA. It has become a great inspiration for us.
While previously the testing of the team, or the work of the animal, focused mainly on attributes such as :
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Reliability
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Predictability
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Controllability
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Suitability
