Study	Reason for exclusion
ACTRN12609000564257	Cross‐over study on the effect of personalised Montessori‐type intervention in managing difficult behaviours for people with dementia. Study did not examine AAT. Basis of exclusion: intervention.
Antonelli 2012	RCT evaluating effects of AAT on older adults with no or mild cognitive impairment, with a cut‐off MMSE score of 18/30, who visit a day‐care service. None of the participants were diagnosed with dementia (communication with the contact author). Although the cut‐off for MMSE was below the conventional cut‐off of 24 for dementia, diagnosing dementia requires more tests than MMSE, and on that consideration with additional information provided by the author, we decided to exclude this study. Basis of exclusion: population.
Boehmer 2016	Non‐randomised, single‐group, 2‐phase study that examined the effects of having a residential dog on quality of life and loneliness in people with dementia who were living in a community living centre. Basis of exclusion: study design.
Borges 2019	Case series that described the effects of EAT on balance, functional capacity, and cognition in older adults diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Basis of exclusion: study design.
Cesari 2014	Review that described the phenomenon of "horse‐racing effect" in clinical trials in older people, utilising the horse racing analogy with some of the observed difference in certain physiological parameters (e.g. blood pressure) that occur with ageing. Basis of exclusion: relevance of topic.
Churchill 1999	Within‐subject study with repeated measure design that examined the effects of a therapy dog on agitation and desocialisation in people with Alzheimer's disease. Basis of exclusion: study design.
Colombo 2006	Non‐randomised study on the effects of AAT on a group of non‐cognitively impaired institutionalised older adults. Basis of exclusion: study design and population.
Farid 2019	Review of AAT with dogs in people with dementia. Basis of exclusion: study design.
Gocheva 2018	RCT that examined the effects of AAT on people with acquired brain injuries. The causes of acquired brain injuries included traumatic and non‐traumatic (mainly stroke). Basis of exclusion: population.
Hu 2018b	Systematic review and meta‐analysis on AAT for people with cognitive impairment. Basis of exclusion: study design.
ISRCTN31919196	Non‐randomised observational study on the role of Protected Engagement Time for people with dementia. Basis of exclusion: study design and intervention.
Kanamori 2001	Non‐randomised comparative study that assessed the effects of AAT on participants with senile dementia. The experimental group consisted of participants who liked animals, and the control group of participants who did not like animals. Basis of exclusion: study design.
Ko 2016	RCT that assessed the effects of pet insects on psychological outcomes of relatively healthy community‐dwelling older adults. Basis of exclusion: population.
Majic 2013	"Matched case control study" that assessed the effects of AAT using therapy dogs (border collies) in nursing home residents with dementia. As the study was matched case control, the allocation of the participants to the intervention and control group was not performed randomly. However, there was no mention on the basis of allocation of participants to AAT and control groups. Basis of exclusion: study design.
Menna 2016	Non‐randomised, controlled study that assessed the use of AAT using dogs on people with Alzheimer's disease in a day‐care centre. The allocation was non‐random as (quote) "The AAT group included 20 patients (16 women, 4 men) selected according to the following criteria: (i) absence of fear or aversion towards the dog; (ii) willingness to interact with the dog; and (iii) patient's personal history with animals (i.e. patient had a dog in the past)." Basis of exclusion: study design.
Moretti 2011	Non‐randomised, 2‐arm comparative study of AAT and control in Italy, where cases and controls were selected on the basis of sociodemographic and clinical features. Basis of exclusion: study design.
Nordgren 2014	Non‐randomised, comparative study by clusters (nursing home) that examined the effects of dog‐assisted therapy on behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. Basis of exclusion: study design.
NTR5026	Assessed the diagnostic utility of amyloid measured by positron‐emission tomography scan as a diagnostic marker for dementia. AAT was not examined. Basis of exclusion: relevance of study topic.
Peluso 2018	Review on AAT for elderly people with dementia and psychiatric disorders. Basis of exclusion: study design.
Richeson 2003	Pre‐and‐post study on the effects of AAT on agitated behaviours and social interactions of older adults with dementia. Basis of exclusion: study design.
Scanes 2018	Commentary on the roles of animals in entertainment. Basis of exclusion: article type (not an original study).
Spattini 2018	Systematic review and meta‐analysis on the effects of AAT for people with mental disorders. Basis of exclusion: study design.
Zafra‐Tanaka 2019	Systematic review and meta‐analysis on the effects of dog‐assisted therapy for adults with dementia. Basis of exclusion: study design.

AAT: animal‐assisted therapy; EAT: equine‐assisted therapy; MMSE: Mini‐Mental State Examination; RCT: randomised controlled trial.