AN EXAMPLE OF A MONKEY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM - PAST - THE FRENCH PROJECTOF SIMIAN HELP TO QUADRIPLEGICS - A RESPONSE TO IANNUZZI AND ROWANS (1991) PAPER ON ETHICAL ISSUES IN ANIMAL-ASSISTED THERAPY PROGRAMS

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