biostudies-literatureHowell TJAustralian Government1975https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9367407biostudies-literatureUnknown12(15)The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. The same term may be used to describe different roles, or two terms may mean the same thing. This confusion is evident among researchers, practitioners, and end users. Because certain animal roles are provided with legal protections and/or government-funding support in some jurisdictions, it is necessary to clearly define the existing terms to avoid confusion. The aim of this paper is to provide operationalized definitions for nine terms, which would be useful in many world regions: "assistance animal", "companion animal", "educational/school support animal", "emotional support animal", "facility animal", "service animal", "skilled companion animal", "therapy animal", and "visiting/visitation aniAnimals : an open access journal from MDPIDefining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs.PMC9367407n/aSamet LWarda TGee NLinder DKakinuma MMacNamara MCarr AMHeirs MWilson MO'Keeffe SOrmerod ESymonds MDarby AFox MSignal TBenton PHowe RHill KO'Connor GLewis HThomas-Pino CYamamoto MKivlen CFerreira GMCuevas-Pavincich FKim SAJones MBrandes HBailey THooper JDavies LRooy DVBoyle SKieson EYoung JMariti CMai DLRodriguez KPritchard PASteel JAvci AGraham TMRawat VPower ERLanning BBinney CFournier ANieforth LWinkle MNgai DWalsh EAHamilton-Bruce AYerbury RFry NEStone WJohnson ETardif-Williams CYRook DJegatheesan BMattila-Rautiainen SHowell TJSchofield LDelisle EAlm KCoulter KPerry AHansen TGBHart LMead RBennett PAgbonika SKaragiannis CBaker HEnders-Slegers MJOlsen CRuby MBCoombe WfalseDefining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs.The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. The same term may be used to describe different roles, or two terms may mean the same thing. This confusion is evident among researchers, practitioners, and end users. Because certain animal roles are provided with legal protections and/or government-funding support in some jurisdictions, it is necessary to clearly define the existing terms to avoid confusion. The aim of this paper is to provide operationalized definitions for nine terms, which would be useful in many world regions: "assistance animal", "companion animal", "educational/school support animal", "emotional support animal", "facility animal", "service animal", "skilled companion animal", "therapy animal", and "visiting/visitation ani2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022 Aug2025-04-22T11:32:12.453Z2025-04-05T23:58:09.487ZS-EPMC93674073595396510.3390/ani12151975