At the Ville-Evrard hospital complex east of Paris, a novel approach to mental health care is gaining traction: donkey therapy. Since 2016, the facility has housed five donkeys—Nono, Pitou, Oscar, Manolo, and Malraux—as part of a program that psychiatric nurse Ermelinda Hadey and her husband François launched on the premise that these calm, social animals can reach patients in ways conventional treatment sometimes cannot.
On a recent Friday, patients led the donkeys through the hospital's grounds, cleaned their hooves, and embraced them at the session's end. Each patient is paired with a regular companion over time, as familiarity proves mutual. For Nathalie, 60, the experience is transformative. "When you take medication that helps you relax … it's exactly the same," she said. "I'd call it animal medicine. It brings relief. You stop thinking about everything else." Patients are identified by first name only to protect their privacy.
From Neglect to Therapy
Some of the donkeys arrived at Ville-Evrard having experienced neglect or mistreatment themselves, adopted through shelters before François Hadey trained them for therapy work. He describes their aptitude with professional respect. "A donkey is very intelligent. It understands things very quickly, but you have to explain slowly," he said. "Donkeys are calm, serene animals that are generally close to people. Once they're involved in these interactions, they connect very well with patients. They're emotional sponges."
The program gained official status as a healthcare unit in 2022, a bureaucratic endorsement that allowed it to employ three full-time nurses, with volunteers from a nonprofit helping with animal care. It has since expanded to include guinea pigs, chickens, doves, goats, turtles, and rabbits, with smaller animals brought directly to hospital rooms for patients who cannot make it outside.
Clinical Benefits and Patient Testimonials
Nurse Audrey Seffar pointed to Nathalie's progress as a case study. At first, Nathalie refused to leave the cart provided for patients with physical difficulties. "But little by little, with encouragement, she did," Seffar said. "The animal serves as a mediator. It's such an extraordinary one that today she was able to leave the cart and stand beside her donkey."
Another patient, Jérôme, 52, said the program helps reduce loneliness. "Talking with people, taking part in activities I wouldn't normally do, it helps me in my daily life," he said. "It helps you break away from the routine of treatment and medication. Staying at home isn't good for me."
Sessions are free to patients and funded by France's public health system. They are designed as therapeutic interventions for people living with anxiety, depression, autism, schizophrenia, and other conditions, with staff reporting improvements in emotional regulation, communication, and self-esteem.
Mirror Effect and Self-Care
Ermelinda Hadey describes the work as operating by a kind of mirror logic: caring for an animal creates the conditions for patients to care for themselves. "We work on feeding the animal, which helps us address the patient's own eating habits. We work on the animal's hygiene, and by mirror effect, we work on the patient's hygiene as well," she said.
Many patients take antipsychotic medications or sedatives that can flatten motivation entirely. That, she said, is exactly where the donkeys earn their keep. "It does not replace a doctor or a medical prescription, but it can help patients regain confidence and a sense of self-worth."
Call for Wider Recognition
Despite its apparent success, animal therapy remains on the fringes of formal psychiatric practice—and the Ville-Evrard team wants that to change. "To do that, we need research. We have plenty of accounts from patients … Caregivers who accompany them see the benefits every day as well. But doctors have so many other responsibilities that they don't necessarily witness it firsthand," Hadey said.
Nursing student Alicia Fabi, 18, said patients return from sessions visibly different. "Every time we come back from the activity, they say they feel good, calm and relaxed, and that they enjoyed the outing. That's really positive," she said.
As Friday's session drew to a close and patients chatted in the afternoon light, a nurse offered what may be the unit's unofficial motto: "Donkeys are my best colleagues."
This innovative approach to mental health care in France highlights the potential of integrating animal therapy into mainstream psychiatric practice, a model that could inspire similar programs across Europe. For more on health innovations in the region, see our coverage of cancer risks among European health workers and Greece's challenges in medicine access.
