Oh my. Add my two cents? That's tough as you seem to have covered it all, Sukie. This has to be one of the best posts regarding ferrets utilized as therapy animals, assisted therapy animals, service animals and the like that I've ever read. So I'm not sure what I could add of value. Yes, I agree, I fully trust physicians to make the call in these cases as to whether or not a therapy animal should be prescribed for a patient. There is no doubt in my mind that this would never be abused. It is darn difficult to garner support for various things from physicians today due to fear of legal issues as it is. They aren't going to put their practice and reputation on the line by prescribing things willy nilly. Believe me it would be tough enough with them as "gate keepers". I had no idea about the questions of cost in relation to whatever policies would be chosen. So thank you for bringing that up. Another cost issue to think about is that by making therapy animals and their certifications so "formalized", you are opening up the flood gates for exploitation. I'm sorry, but that's America. People cannot afford thousands and thousands of dollars for specially trained animals from specially certified and celebrated places along with transport, etc. I can just see peoples eyes lighting up with dollar signs here big time turning this into big business. Good points about time factors here, especially in regards to the numbers of possibly saved lives from eliminating waiting periods, waiting lists, and red tape. I forgot that was an issue. It was excellent of you to point out how not all animals need to be "taught" service behaviors or even do so on command. This is something that is difficult to get across to people and to get them to accept for some reason. It's a very black and white scientific phenomenon when it occurs. I've seen alleged animal predictors of seizures and even finders of cancer put to the test repeatedly on film without fail. So how could it be denied? I think most ambiguous, and understandably so, would be the use of animals as assisted companions for therapy or even service such as the case was with my son Sean and his ferret Rocky. However, once again, a set pattern of personal history is enough evidence. So in his case, I can't possibly see Rocky ever not being considered or excluded as a therapy animal. But, to some outsiders of the animal and special needs world, it would certainly be debated. I never did formally try to label Rocky as therapy animal or a service animal. I SHOULD have. Boy how it would have helped so many. I was exhausted from the fight back then regarding autism and Rocky brought relief and peace. So I basked in it rather bringing on yet another battle to my family. I instead shared the story over the Internet and in a magazine. I also printed off stories for doctors and schools. I can tell you despite what was sitting in front of them, they definitely still had a raised and questioning eyebrow over it all. That really hurt(s). Badly. I didn't want to open myself up to more "begging" (when you have a handicapped child your job is basically to beg and fundraise for help the rest of your life) by asking doctors, etc, to "prescribe" Rocky. We are blessed that this community got used to the site of the tiny ferret in my beautiful little boys arms whereever he went. We were blessed that his schools DID recognize the benefit to their other students and so Rocky and his friends became regular visitors over the years and were also used in social stories and what not. It was enough for us back then. continued in next post [Nah, both posts combined here. BIG] Rocky's "service" to Sean was an accidental finding/happening. Sean benefited from him in two distinct ways. The first way was that Rocky single handedly opened up Seans world when all of the doctors, therapists, teachers, friends and family could not. Rocky served as a "bridge" between us and Sean, and then later, between the world and Sean. There truly was a proverbial wall between my baby and us. He seemed deaf. And when you made him "hear" you, he bulked and most often turned violent. Old school ABA didn't just fail, it made things worse, so we stayed far from that sort of therapy. With Rocky, Sean turned his eyes from his lined up toy cars to his father and this resulted in mimicking appropriate play behavior in various situations. It was a very slow process. But the progress was incredibly consistent and inarguable. Through using Rocky as a model and including him in social stories, Sean connected to us. He learned to brush his teeth, he learned to not just copy but to play creatively with his pet, he learned to share when he couldn't before and so much more all through Rocky's example. Ferrets need their teeth brushed and they don't tantrum from it. Ferrets share, they don't fight and hurt each other over belongings and food. Ferrets dont copy each other when they play, they each have their own way of weasel war dancing. Peace was found in the home at last. The constant tension and acting out diminished greatly due to the soothing effects of a warm and closely bonded pet and from the new found ability to communicate through him. And that peacefulness was an overnight effect by the way. That alone was plenty for me, believe me. Rocky was therefore used in therapy (the social stories) and as a general "therapy animal" as well. The second way Sean benefited was definitely and without a doubt more of a service type of category. This is what would be hotly debated I suppose. We came to find that when Rocky was with Sean, he never had a melt down in public. EVER. Not once in all our years with Rocky did he act out, panic, or tantrum let alone get so out of control we couldn't reel him in. We soon let Sean take Rocky anywhere he wanted except for establishments that dealt with food or for medical places. We didn't have to worry about Sean "escaping" as so many autistics do while out in public either when he held Rocky. I still haven't figured that one out. Sean blabbered on and spoke a great deal more because of Rocky, when he was so nonverbal as a toddler that one neurologist dx'ed him as mute. He looked at strangers and answered to them when he was addressed while he did not before. In fact, if Sean saw someone "out of place", for instance a teacher out of school and in a mall, he would squeal and run. We'd catch him. He'd have a meltdown. And we'd have to leave. Not with Rocky though. I wont bore you with more details, but I did want to get very specific here so things are more clear and so this doesn't come off as some vague fairytale account. Couldn't any animal have been used for this purpose for my son? NO way. Sean was very dangerous towards all infants and animals. He often attacked them. There was a certain dog that a relative owned many states away that Sean did enjoy when visiting. So we knew their was hope in having pets safely in our lives again. However that was the only case we found prior to Rocky. Sean opened up to and accepted ferrets into his life specifically and later he connected with a special ferret (Rocky). There have been past observations and even one study regarding the reactions of autistic children to various species of animals including humans in the mix. Humans turn out to have the least positive reaction. Dogs also scored lower than you might think. This is probably because they are very invasive to your space, hugely tactile, and bark. Cat's didn't seem to engage the children enough. Yet ferrets really did peak an interest and keep the children focused. I forget what other animals had good results. But I assure you they weren't only cats and dogs. Last added reply point to Sukie: Sukie brought up the subject regarding allergies. Ferrets were the only mammals I was not allergic to as a child. Same with my two boys. Today, yes, in my older years I"ve developed a terrible allergy to them. But my point is that of dogs, cats, and ferrets ... ferrets anecdotally trigger a far less allergic reaction if any. I could no have a fuzzy pet for Sean in the home other than ferrets because of my health. I sure would rather sit next to a ferret on a bus than a dog given my allergies. In addition, Sean's asthma was so bad at birth that he was on a machine every 3-4 hours except at night through toddlerhood. It was horrible. We were delighted to see it dwindle away and wean off the machine. However, cats, dust, etc, were still no-no's. Til this very day, he has had zero, ZERO sensitivity reactions to ferrets. He has a mild reaction to dogs. As Forrest Gump would say, "That's all I have to say about that ..." Wolfy, (not the Sukie) See Seans story at www.wolfysluv.com/sean.html [Posted in FML 6991]