INTERVENÇÕES ASSISTIDAS POR ANIMAIS E AS RELAÇÕES DE PODER ENTRE HOMEM E ANIMAL: UM ENSAIO TEÓRICO

The term speciesism was coined by British scientist and psychologist Richard D. Ryder in the 1970s to describe the supremacy of human interests over non-human interests, simply because they belong to different species. Among the results analyzed, we highlight: the prevalence of studies with dogs as co therapists; the lack of information regarding the well-being of the co-therapist animal has been scarce; AAIs are recognized as effective in treating mental, behavioral and neurological disorders, with anxiety reduction being the main benefit of this interaction. The public that benefits most from these interactions are children. Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is the most widely used intervention. The objective of this study is to present results based on the literature from 2014 to 2019 that present evidence on animal care and welfare in therapeutic and psychotherapeutic practices in the interaction of non-human animals as co-therapists in Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI). In the end, criticisms were made about the overvaluation of human welfare to the detriment of little concern for the animal co-therapist.