A Canadian psychology professor who studies how relationships with pets support healthy development has her own unusual therapy animal: an emotional support chicken to assist her with daily life.
“I feel like she’s so smart. She can understand my emotions,” Sonia Kong told the CBC about the 11-month-old bird she named Saturday — for the day she adopted it from a farm outside Prince George, British Columbia.
“When I was sad, she just lay there, looking at me, you know, trying to figure out what was going on, ‘Why are you crying?’ That means a lot to me.”
She even crafted a special diaper for the feather baby so it can travel with her around the city.
Professor Sonia Kong’s pet chicken is named Saturday. spirenko – stock.adobe.com Kong, who teaches at the University of Northern British Columbia, is currently researching how pets impact the social and emotional development of teens through an online survey.
She is conducting the international study with Tracy Wong, an assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
“We want to see whether there are cultural differences and how spending time with pets may influence adolescents in different cultural backgrounds,” she told the outlet.
Kong, who teaches at the University of Northern British Columbia, is currently researching how pets affect the social and emotional development of teens. Kong’s parents are still getting used to the idea of their daughter’s new pet, and jokingly asked if she planned to eat it.
“It’s like ‘I will not! She’s a pet.’ They’re kidding but there are cultural differences or cultural value differences,” she said.
