According to Tuke, ----.

Even though pet therapy is only now being widely
used, it isn't a new idea. In the 18th century an
English doctor, William Tuke, filled the grounds of a
hospital for mentally disturbed people with
chickens, goats and rabbits. At a time when people
were punished for strange behaviour rather than
helped, this was a radical new approach to treating
the mentally disturbed. Tuke's idea was that
patients could learn self-control by caring for
creatures weaker than themselves.