Service Animals - History, Hunting, Guard Duty, Manual Labor, Odd Jobs, Law Enforcement, Search, Rescue, And Recovery

Service animals are those that work for humans doing particular tasks. These tasks may be as mundane as pulling plows or as sophisticated as finding underwater mines. Throughout history, animals have helped humans hunt wildlife, herd livestock, guard people and property, and wage warfare. Animals are also trained for more humanitarian causes, such as rescuing the lost and providing aid and comfort to people with certain physical and psychological needs.

Whatever the task may be, the common factor is that service animals help humans with their needs and desires. Some people see this as a clever use of resources. Many believe it is a mutually beneficial bond, but others see it as a form of slavery. Some animal rights activists believe that animals should not be used for any purpose by humans. While they rarely speak out against uses that the public views as benevolent, they are extremely critical of military uses of animals because the animals are exposed to great danger. This is also true for animals doing some police and rescue jobs.

Welfarists are also concerned that working animals should be trained and treated with care. Animal groups recommend that only positive reinforcement be used when service animals are trained. They also point out that service animals should be carefully screened to ensure that they are a good match with their potential human partners. Finally, they remind people that the needs of service and assistance animals must be considered along with the needs of the people being served. In general, however, welfarists tend to support programs that train service and therapeutic animals because so many of these programs rescue homeless animals from shelters.