Journal article 550 views 55 downloads
Defining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs
Animals, Volume: 12, Issue: 15, Start page: 1975
Swansea University Author:
Helen Lewis
-
PDF | Version of Record
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license
Download (870.74KB)
DOI (Published version): 10.3390/ani12151975
Abstract
The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. The same term may be used to describe different roles, or two terms may mean the same thing. This confusion is evident among researchers, practitioners, and end users. Because certain animal roles are prov...
Published in: | Animals |
---|---|
ISSN: | 2076-2615 |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2022
|
Online Access: |
Check full text
|
URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60735 |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Abstract: |
The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. The same term may be used to describe different roles, or two terms may mean the same thing. This confusion is evident among researchers, practitioners, and end users. Because certain animal roles are provided with legal protections and/or government-funding support in some jurisdictions, it is necessary to clearly define the existing terms to avoid confusion. The aim of this paper is to provide operationalized definitions for nine terms, which would be useful in many world regions: “assistance animal”, “companion animal”, “educational/school support animal”, “emotional support animal”, “facility animal”, “service animal”, “skilled companion animal”, “therapy animal”, and “visiting/visitation animal”. At the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) conferences in 2018 and 2020, over 100 delegates participated in workshops to define these terms, many of whom co-authored this paper. Through an iterative process, we have defined the nine terms and explained how they differ from each other. We recommend phasing out two terms (i.e., “skilled companion animal” and “service animal”) due to overlap with other terms that could potentially exacerbate confusion. The implications for several regions of the world are discussed. |
---|---|
Item Description: |
This paper included contributions from 77 international colleagues |
Keywords: |
companion animal; assistance animal; service animal; facility animal; therapy animal;emotional support animal; educational support animal; visiting animal; human–animal interaction |
College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
Funders: |
This research received no external funding. |
Issue: |
15 |
Start Page: |
1975 |