Therapy Donkeys Help Psychiatric Patients Near Paris

When Nathalie first arrived at the therapy sessions, she wouldn't leave the cart provided for patients with mobility challenges. After a few weeks with the donkeys, she was standing beside her animal, brushing its coat and lifting its hooves to clean them.

She's one of dozens of patients at Ville-Evrard hospital in Neuilly-sur-Marne who are discovering an unexpected form of relief. The facility offers free therapy sessions with five donkeys named Nono, Pitou, Oscar, Manolo, and Malraux as part of their mental health treatment.

"I'd call it animal medicine," said Nathalie, 60, who asked to be identified by first name only. "It brings relief. You stop thinking about everything else."

The program started in 2016 when Ermelinda Hadey, a psychiatric nurse, convinced hospital leadership that donkeys could help patients. Her husband François learned how to train the animals for therapy work. Some of the donkeys were adopted from shelters after experiencing neglect.

Patients are paired with a donkey and learn to care for them during weekly sessions. They walk the animals through wooded trails, clean their hooves, brush their coats, and feed them. Many sessions end with long hugs.

The donkeys were chosen specifically for their calm and social nature. "They're emotional sponges," François Hadey explained. "Once they're involved in these interactions, they connect very well with patients."

Jérôme, 52, said the program helps him combat loneliness and break free from the monotony of medication routines. "Talking with people, taking part in activities I wouldn't normally do, it helps me in my daily life," he said.

The Ripple Effect

The success has been so clear that in 2022, the program became an official healthcare unit within the hospital. It now employs three full-time nurses and has expanded to include guinea pigs, chickens, doves, goats, turtles, and rabbits that can be brought to patients' rooms.

Staff say the sessions help improve emotional regulation, communication, social interaction, and self-esteem. The activities create natural opportunities for nurses to address eating habits when feeding animals and personal hygiene when grooming them.

"It does not replace a doctor or medical prescription, but it can help patients regain confidence and a sense of self-worth," Ermelinda Hadey said. The team is now working on formal research to help animal therapy gain recognition as a complementary form of psychiatric care throughout France.

For now, patients keep showing up, and the donkeys keep offering their quiet, steady presence to anyone who needs it.