Animal therapy is not an entirely new concept. For various ailments, both mental and physical, animals have often been used to increase the happy hormone in people and reduce depressive thoughts. Usually, though, those animals include baby versions like puppies, kittens, goats, and such. However, one French hospital has been using donkeys for therapy with positive results.
Therapy for mental health has had a long and even painful journey so far. While the social stigma with it is still very much attached, the progress, though, cannot be denied in how far it has come from a time when words like therapy and mental health itself were as good as a prison sentence or worse.
In today’s time, therapy has progressed to include a myriad of different programs, from cognitive behavioural therapy to dialectical behaviour therapy, from EMDR to talk therapy, art therapy, music therapy, and so many more.
Now, different therapy formats are practised according to the method best suited for it. Some are more clinical studies, while some are practised on vibes and the conviction that anything that makes a person feel better cannot be entirely without merit. And somewhere in that spectrum sits animal-assisted therapy, a field that has accumulated serious research interest over the past two decades, and that keeps producing surprises in terms of which animals prove most effective.
The latest surprising development comes from a suburb east of Paris, where a psychiatric hospital has been quietly running a donkey therapy programme. Yes, you heard that right, donkeys.
These donkeys have been found to help patients with schizophrenia, depression, and other serious mental health conditions do things that medication alone has struggled to achieve. It sounds like something from a warm French film. The evidence, according to the people involved, suggests it is something considerably more than that.
What Are Therapy Donkeys?
The Ville-Evrard hospital complex sits in Neuilly-sur-Marne, in the eastern suburbs of Paris. It is a large psychiatric facility, and within its grounds, among 19th-century farm buildings and stands of mature woodland, five donkeys have been at work since 2016.
As France 24 reported on June 1, 2026, in its coverage of the programme: “Patients staying in a psychiatric hospital near Paris have been singing the praises of a novel treatment: spending time with therapy donkeys. Experts and patients say caring for the animals, which are known for their calm and social nature, helps improve emotional regulation, communication, social interaction and self-esteem.”
The programme was conceived and launched by Ermelinda Hadey, a nurse who specialises in psychiatry, and her husband, François Hadey, in 2016.
In 2022, the animal therapy unit was formally recognised as a healthcare service and now includes not only nurses and volunteers but also chickens, doves, rabbits, goats, guinea pigs, and turtles.
According to the staff, this program helps patients suffering from anxiety, autism, depression and schizophrenia to develop emotional regulation and social interaction.
On May 29, 2026, journalists and photographers from the Associated Press (AP) visited the programme to document a session. As AP News reported: “On Friday, patients took the five donkeys for a walk and cared for them. Some confidently lifted their hooves to remove dirt. Many ended the session with a hug.”
Read More: In Pics: 5 Things You Should Do To Take Care Of Your Mental Health
Each participant is paired with one of the five animals named Nono, Pitou, Oscar, Manolo, or Malraux, and over repeated sessions, AP News reported, “they become familiar with each other’s personalities.”
Nathalie, a 60-year-old patient, speaking about this form of therapy, said, “When you take medication that helps you relax … it’s exactly the same,” and “I’d call it animal medicine. It brings relief. You stop thinking about everything else.”
Audrey Seffar, a nurse at the animal therapy unit, pointed out how Nathalie saw progress after just a few such sessions. Seffar said, “At first, she wouldn’t get out of the cart (provided for people with physical difficulties). But little by little, with encouragement, she did.”
“The animal serves as a mediator. It’s such an extraordinary one that today she was able to leave the cart and stand beside her donkey.”
18-year-old nursing student, Alicia Fabi, said, “We talk about many different things, their illness, their lives and just about everything else. We don’t focus only on the illness because we don’t want them dwelling on it all the time,” adding how “Every time we come back from the activity, they say they feel good, calm and relaxed, and that they enjoyed the outing. That’s really positive.”
Ermelinda started the project due to the benefits of animal therapy, and donkeys, especially, were selected for their calm and social nature. François Hadey, who is responsible for training the donkeys themselves, speaking with Euro News, said, “A donkey is very intelligent. It understands things very quickly, but you have to explain slowly. Donkeys are calm, serene animals that are generally close to people. Once they’re involved in these interactions, they connect very well with patients. They’re emotional sponges.”
Several of these animals were also adopted from wrong conditions, where they experienced neglect or mistreatment.
Ermelinda Hadey also explained how it works, saying, “We work on feeding the animal, which helps us address the patient’s own eating habits. We work on the animal’s hygiene, and by the mirror effect, we work on the patient’s hygiene as well.”
The mirror logic is applied when the act of caring for another living creature encourages the patient to take care of themselves.
Hadey did stress, though, that “It does not replace a doctor or a medical prescription, but it can help patients regain confidence and a sense of self-worth.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: ABC, AP News, Euro News
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Donkey, Donkey therapy, Donkey therapy meaning, Donkey therapy paris, paris, paris mental health, mental health, mental health patients, french hospital, mental health care, patient wellbeing, wellbeing, therapy donkeys
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