Serious illness is one of the most physically and emotionally challenging experiences an individual can go through. As a result, many sick people will resort to almost any methods to alleviate some of the pain. In recent years, this has allowed for the surge in popularity of therapy animals, who supposedly bring comfort through their calming presence. These have ranged from the obvious (dogs) to the decidedly unconventional (parrots and even alligators). If there's one thing that they tend to have in common, it's that you couldn't ride them in the Kentucky Derby.
The way things were going, it was inevitable that something was going to come along to blow this similarity out the water. This has come in the form of Peyo, the horse who visits terminal hospital patients in Calais. Highlighted by the Twitter account All Things Interesting, a lot of people were less than convinced that a behooved, half ton animal provided anyone with much comfort in their dying moments.
Despite Peyo's reported success in his calling, many were more concerned about his bodily functions , or whether his patients would be convinced they were having some kind of demented dying vision. The cynicism of the internet didn't ruin the horse's reputation completely, with some defending his abilities to soothe and therapize. However, if most others are anything to go by, there are a significant number of deceased French people who think the Grim Reaper eats sugar cubes.
