I Built an AI That Matches People With Therapy Animals — Here's What I Learned

I Built an AI That Matches People With Therapy Animals — Here's What I Learned Pet therapy works. There's decades of research backing it up — reduced cortisol, lower blood pressure, improved mood. The problem? Finding the right animal for the right person has always been manual, slow, and largely guesswork. So I built something to fix that. The Problem With Traditional Pet Therapy Matching Most platforms work like this: You fill out a form ("Do you prefer dogs or cats?") Someone manually reviews it You get a recommendation in 3–5 business days This is 2024 energy applied to a 2026 problem. The real matching factors are way more nuanced: Anxiety type (social vs. generalized vs. situational) Living situation and mobility Allergy profile Sensory sensitivities (noise, texture, unpredictability) Therapeutic goal (grounding, motivation, companionship, routine) A golden retriever is perfect for some people. For others — too energetic, too unpredictable, overwhelming. How the AI Matching Engin