Expert warns of risks of adopting pets as therapyBy Chen Kuan-pei and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerHouse pets can provide a sense of companionship and stability for some people, but this is predicated on the owner having sufficient self-care skills and emotional stability, a therapist said, adding that otherwise, pet-keeping might become a source of pressure. A person strokes a cat in New Taipei City in an undated photograph. While keeping pets as a therapeutic measure is a good beginning, people diagnosed with these symptoms should have family help them through the initial stages, she said. If patients experience signs of self-harm, harming others, or have a tendency to lose control, they should consult doctors and accept treatment, and not raise pets, she said. Actual therapy must be established when one is psychologically stable, and other life forms should not be treated as a therapeutic tool, Chou said.
