Acupuncture started as a procedure for horses, according to Dr. Marc Siebert at the Lower East Side Animal Hospital, so there’s no reason not be using it on dogs now. The veterinary center, which opened in August as a satellite of the Heart of Chelsea Animal Hospital, offers things like acupuncture and laser therapy in addition to the traditional bevy of western medicine options.
Siebert, a veterinarian and International Veterinary Acupuncture Society-licensed acupuncturist who performs the procedure on roughly 10 animal patients per week at the Chelsea location, rejects the idea that acupuncture patients only experience the placebo effect.
“Lots of people know acupuncture for humans; people who don’t know say it’s only a placebo. Cricket doesn’t know this is supposed to help her, but it helps her,” he told ANIMAL, referring to the dog he was working on at the time.
See Siebert perform acupuncture on Cricket, an adorable longhaired dachshund, in the video above.
(Video: Yossera Bouchtia/ANIMALNewYork)
