We interviewed the president of the Natura Animale association, dott.ssa Debra Buttram, who got a degree in the pedagogy and science of education from Florida State University, and later received training as an instructor of assistance dogs, as an instructor and evaluator for AAT, and as an instructor for evaluators. Dott.ssa Buttram is responsible for the “Quattro zampe in corsia” project. In collaboration with the Gruppo San Donato Foundation, the project provides for a cycle of assisted interventions with animals at some hospitals in Lombardy.
Find out more about the Quattro zampe in corsia project: www.fondazioneprossimomio.it/project-fgsd-animal-assisted-activities-hospitals.php

1.What is Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT), and when was it born?
DB: AAT, Animal Assisted Therapy, is a general term that indicates various kinds of interventions: therapeutic, rehabilitative, educative, didactic, and recreational. They envisage the involvement of a suitable trained assistant and an animal suited to the project. AAT activities are for both healthy people and for people who are affected by mental or psychological neuromotor disorders.
The benefits of a human-animal rapport had already been noted in antiquity, and since around 1700 some institutes in Europe had animals for their patients. The first publications about the importance of companion animals as a means of therapy were published in the 1950s by Boris Levinson, a child neuropsychiatrist. 
In Italy, they were recognized by the Ministero della Salute in collaboration with the Centro Referenza Nazionale for AAT in the March 2015 guidelines publication entitled, “Linee Guide Nazionale per gli Interventi assistiti con animali IAA.”

2. Why is it wrong to call it “Pet Therapy?”
DB: Boris Levinson coined this term in the 1950s, but he decided against it only a few years later because not all pets are suitable, some animals included in the project are not considered pets, and a therapy project requires a rigid protocol with specific objectives for each patient, a therapist that leads the interactions with the patients, and an evaluation and documentation of every encounter.

3. What are the benefits for patients?
DB: The benefits can be many and various also because of the type of project and the users’ objectives. In projects, patients are facilitated in their interactions with the external world through a relationship with an animal, which doesn’t judge them. Other examples could be the motivation to do something, to get involved, to move, to be facilitated in recognizing emotions, or to learn concepts. Patients have the opportunity to live a moment of authentic emotions.

4. Can all dogs do it?
DB: Not all dogs are necessarily suitable, and certainly not all of them are suited for every kind of project, environment, and situation. To be recognized on a national level as an animal assistant, the person has to successfully complete specific training, while the dog has to have certain characteristics, and has to be evaluated by and receive the necessary certificate from a veterinarian expert in AAT.

5. What kinds of AAT are you doing thanks to the project Quattro zampe in corsia?
DB: All the Quattro zampe in corsia projects are AAA-Assisted Activities with Animals. The interventions are recreational games for a variety of categories of patients in order to improve their quality of life during their stay in the institution. We always work together with the staff of the institute to satisfy the needs of every patient.

Thank you.