I don't want to burst your bubble. I'm sure if it is done right a program like that can be beneficial for patients. Still, this was kind of funny. Several years ago I worked at a rather elegant long term care facility. This idea of pet therapy was all the rage back then. The DON decided, apparently without much thought, to implement one right away. Well, things got off to a pretty bad start. First they got about 4 cats. We had one resident in particular who despised cats because way back when a cat had done his business on her mink coat. She had wanted that mink for the longest time since all her friends had them but she and her husband, who lived in Manhattan, couldn't afford one. Well, eventually that worked out. I guess the first night she wore it to a friend's house, she left it on a bed in the bedroom, only to find out later that kitty thought it would be a great litter box! Seems kitty had always wanted a mink of her own, too! Anyways, the DON got four cats from some rescue place. The first night they were there the kitties were ecstatic when the dinner carts went down the hall. Salmon was on the menu. Quite a treat for rescue cats! So, one jumps up on this woman's table, she screams and starts swatting at it and the kitty bit her. Of all people! Anyways, as time went on we got a couple of dogs, some birds and I forget what else. None of the residents had the slightest interest in any of them. Taking care of them proved to be quite a chore and this beautiful facility ended up smelling like a poorly run pet shop. I don't know. I didn't think much about it but then I am not much of an animal lover anyways, although I do love my two kitties and my pomeranian. See what you think. It's just not something anyone should jump into without thinking the whole thing through.