Subsequently, by chance, Corson and his wife became interested in what they termed "pet-facilitated psychotherapy" when some adolescent patients with mental illness asked to meet the animals.
Samuel Corson was born on 31 December 1909 in Dobryanka, a small village 200 miles from Odessa, Russian Empire, and moved to Philadelphia in his teens.
[1][2] In 1960, Corson was appointed professor of psychiatry and biophysics at Ohio State University, where, with his wife Elizabeth, he established a research laboratory.
[4] Subsequently, by chance, Corson and his wife became interested in what they termed "pet-facilitated psychotherapy" when some adolescent patients in the hospital ward above the dogs' kennel asked to meet the animals.
[3][5] The dogs consisted of beagles, border collies, wirehair fox terriers, a Labrador retriever, and one German Shepherd-husky mix called Whiskey, whose aggressive affection attracted the attention of some adolescents who were overly energetic.