An Example of a Monkey Assistance Program: P.A.S.T. - The French Project of Simian Help to Quadriplegics

Bertrand L. Deputte (1) , Michel Busnel (2)

1 EVE - Ethologie, éVolution, Ecologie
2 CMRRF - Centre Mutualiste de Rééducation et de Réadaptation Fonctionnelles de KERPAPE [Ploemeur]

All animal-assisted therapy programs raise ethical issues. These ethical issues are even more important when non-domesticated animals are used to help humans with disabilities. In their 1991 review, Iannuzzi and Rowan mentioned programs which use capuchin monkeys to help quadriplegics. The lack of technical or scientific information concerning these programs leads to misinformation. This paper describes the French Project (P.A.S.T. - Programme d'Aide Simienne aux personnes Tétraplégiques) which evaluates whether trained capuchin monkeys could be efficient helpers and companions to quadriplegic persons.

Domaines: Sciences cognitives; Psychologie et comportements; Neurosciences; Zoologie des vertébrés

Bertrand L. Deputte, Michel Busnel. An Example of a Monkey Assistance Program: P.A.S.T. - The French Project of Simian Help to Quadriplegics. Anthrozoös, 1997, 10 (2-3), pp.76-81. ⟨10.2752/089279397787001201⟩. ⟨hal-02491558⟩