At a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Paris, therapy donkeys are playing an unusual but structured role in helping patients manage mental health conditions, as part of France’s public healthcare system.
At the Ville-Evrard hospital complex in Neuilly-sur-Marne, 19th-century farm buildings and wooded surroundings provide a calm setting for animal-assisted therapy sessions. On Friday, patients walked five donkeys, groomed them and cared for them, with some cleaning hooves and others ending the session with hugs, AP reported.
