When Karl McKeown arrives at Euroa Horse Park in Victoria’s rural north-east, he says he immediately feels a weight off his shoulders.
“I come through the gates, and I go into, ‘Ah, relaxed’,” Mr McKeown said.
The Kilmore resident was born with cerebral palsy and scoliosis and had a brain aneurysm about four years ago.
As part of his recovery, Mr McKeown has been working with Euroa Horse Park and ESB Therapy owner Vanessa Hawkins and participating in animal-assisted services on her farm.
Animal-assisted services include therapy, which is practised by health professionals; learning, where animals are used to help people to discover life experiences; and education sessions that are specifically designed to help participants with learning troubles.
Participants experiencing varied benefits
Ms Hawkins is a former registered nurse and has been around animals her entire life.
She runs what is believed to be one of the only animal-assisted services programs using cows in Victoria.
Ms Hawkins said she originally purchased the cows to keep the pastures down on her property.
“I had totally underestimated their benefits,” she said.
“The therapeutic benefits these guys have are just incredibly powerful.”
Ms Hawkins said she has had clients of all ages and walks of life experience benefits from animal-assisted services involving cows and horses.
“[The clients] become more aware of body language, communication, and the trust and respect grows,” she said.
“The cows have this grounding piece around them. The horses tend to have a higher flight response so they’re a bit more reactive.”
Mr McKeown said working with animals had given him many benefits, including learning more patience.
“It does make you think [that] you have to slow down. It does give you a whole new focus,” he said.
National guidelines required
While many participants of animal-assisted services report both mental and physical benefits, health experts are still debating the clinical benefits.
As the sector rapidly grows, psychologists are calling for national guidelines to be established to ensure the safety and welfare of both participants and animals.
Melanie Jones is a Melbourne-based psychologist who has been working in the animal therapy space for some time and says Australia is behind the rest of the world in terms of regulation.
“There are a number of countries in Europe that already have legislation in place that stipulates how many hours of training and that sort of thing,” she said.
Ms Jones said the sector has boomed in recent years and seeing animal therapy businesses that did not involve qualified people made her very nervous.
“It is actually terrifying. There are so many things we think about when we are working as therapists,” she said.
“There’s also concern when therapists don’t have any animal knowledge and all of a sudden want to start working with animals.”
Half of sector already ‘accredited’
Queensland’s Wendy Coombe started not-for-profit Animal Therapies Limited in a push to help further grow the sector.
It is currently the only national organisation in the animal-assisted services industry and seeks to provide an impartial lens that creates joint initiatives between recipients and the private, public, education and community sectors.
The not-for-profit has created resources for the sector including a code of conduct and a code of ethics, and Ms Coombe believes transparency and clear definitions are critical.
“All humans should be working within the scope of their qualifications and their practice,” she said.
Ms Coombe was not convinced an accreditation system was needed.
“Probably 50 per cent of the sector is made up of allied health that are already being accredited through their peak bodies,” she said.
Ms Hawkins said the sector was still evolving.
“There’s still ongoing research and ongoing evolution within the sector,” she said.
“As I’ve done more research into the work that I do, I have become connected with organisations like Animal Therapies Limited.”
Posted , updated
