When the Animal is the Therapist: Interspecies Practices in Human Care

Quando o animal é o terapeuta: práticas interespecíficas de cuidado humano

Abstract

The present article deals with the technical dimensions of zootherapy, focusing on the practices developed in this field in order to prepare the animal and the abilities already present in the animals themselves. Employing ethnographically-grounded data and focusing on the interactions between beings and the effects of these interactions, as observed and reported, we will discuss the works of Georges Haudricourt and Carole Ferret. We will then look at the potential and limits of the models presented by these two researchers, broadening the debate with the help of anthropology, by looking at the agency of the non-human beings involved in these practices (practices which seek to control many different processes). Finally, we will demonstrate that while zootherapy presents something of an enigma from the point of view of communications theory, it involves and highlights a series of actions that are socially learned by both humans and animals. In conclusion, we will consider some of the effects that this process has on humans.

Key words:
Technical anthropology; actions; therapeutic processes; human-animal interactions; zootherapy