Service Animals Besides Dogs That Help Humans

Animals have long been in the service of humans; pulling wagons and plows, guarding homes, keeping food free of pests. More recently, they've become companions. People with special needs like physical or mental disabilities rely on both aspects to help them see, hear and operate in the world. Service animals give them independence that is otherwise out of reach. Dogs are traditionally the go-to animal for this role, but other species are capable of being service animals, too.

Definition

• Service animals can offer a new outlook on life.

  In the United States, service animals are under the purview of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Portions of the act were changed in 2010 and enacted in March 2011, including a change in the definition of a service animal, which is "limited to a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability." This means that, legally, only dogs can be service animals.

Categories

• Rabbits make better therapy animals than service animals.

  The U.S. Department of Agriculture categorizes service animals, which it calls assistance animals, by the kind of assistance the animal provides: guide animals, hearing animals, service animals, seizure alert animals and social/therapy animals. Guide animals help the blind or visually impaired, hearing animals help those with hearing impairment, service animals help with tasks requiring strength or movement, seizure alert animals are trained to sense very early signs of seizure and therapy animals provide emotional support or physical therapy.

Horses

• Horses make good physical therapists.

  Some disabilities are so severe that the person becomes unreachable, and some illnesses can be crippling. Horseback riding provides therapy in both cases. It allows the rider to connect with the animal's motion, gain self-esteem and develop an emotional bond on a different level than with a human. It can help treat diseases like autism, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy or Down syndrome. Additionally, miniature horses are sometimes used as guide animals.

Monkeys

• Monkeys are very portable helpers.

  As humans' closest relatives, monkeys have some of the same advantages, making them a logical choice for service animals. While the kinds of monkeys that are trained for assistance--monkeys like capuchins rather than apes like chimpanzees--are small, they offer a mobility-impaired individual a literal extra pair of hands. They can reach items on high shelves and operate devices that require manual dexterity, both things dogs can't manage. Additionally, capuchins can live for 45 years.

Birds

• An African gray parrot may be as intelligent as a six-year-old human.

  Birds, particularly parrots, are intelligent animals. They can use their feet and beaks with dexterity similar to a human hand, they are inherently social and they thrive on mental stimulation. All of these traits make them potential service animals. While they might not be ideal as guide or hearing animals, they can be trained to help people with limited mobility, and their social nature can make them adept as therapy animals, which is largely where they are employed.

Exotics

• Reptiles may make good companions, but they make poor therapy animals.

  People have used quite a variety of animals for assistance, some legitimate, others less so. Generally, reptiles are not considered plausible service animals. Most of them lack the size, eyesight or dexterity required to be anything more than a companion. Likewise, ferrets and wolf-dog hybrids are sometimes called service animals, but they are illegal in many places, and, particularly in the case of hybrids, their behavior may be unpredictable, which makes them a poor choice.