Ralph Orlowski / Getty Images
Daan Vermeulen guides his pig Felix into a car at a senior care facility in Gelsenkirchen.
A pig named 'Felix' has been trained by physiotherapist Daan Vermeulen to provide emotional therapy for the elderly and for handicapped children, Getty Images photographer Ralph Orlowski reports. Vermeulen claims contact with the pig stimulates curiosity, activity and even alertness among elderly people and helps them to awaken from the passivity that often sets in as they become older. Vermeulen says he helps those patients who react with fear to the pig to channel the emotion into a positive experience. |