In a hospital in Northern France, you’ll find a sweet horse named Peyo, who has regular visiting hours with the terminally ill. Peyo, a retired show horse, now 17 years old, has left the world of competition and has begun a new career visiting the sick and dying. Over time, his owner realized Peyo was a different kind of horse – one that was very sensitive to those who had an illness. Apparently, Peyo would seek out individuals who were physically ill and he would stay by their side.
In 2011, researchers compared Peyo with a group of 500 horses and found that indeed, his brain was wired differently. Peyo was able to detect cancer and tumors and seemed to “know” when a person was at the end of their life. Doctor Peyo – as the hospital staff calls him – has visited more than one thousand patients since he started his “career”.
