Owning a pet should be a unique and rewarding experience, but so much focus is put on the responsibilities of pet ownership that it is all too easy to forget about all of the benefits that pets can give to human beings. Yes, ensuring that your pet is happy, healthy and well looked after is, of course, very important, but pets can play an equally important role in keeping their owners happy and healthy too.
Pet ownership is constantly on the increase in the UK and the human–animal bond has never been greater. Studies have shown that pet owners use less medication, have lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels and visit their doctors less often. Pets also benefit the physical, emotional and social health of their owners, especially among the elderly and in the development of children. Dogs do, generally, have the largest impact on their owner's health by increasing physical exercise as well as promoting social interaction and providing all important companionship.
As well as the obvious physical benefits to keeping pets, there are also emotional and cognitive benefits. Cuddling and playing with our pets releases serotonin and dopamine which calms and relaxes us. Even fish keeping can induce similar stress busting properties as we watch them swim — calming our minds and relaxing our muscles. Pets also provide companionship, which is especially important to the elderly. They offer us unconditional love and are always there to listen…even if they do not understand! Whether cat, dog, fish, horse or rabbit, our pets prove to have effective therapeutic powers, whether we need them or not!
Is it therefore any wonder that many people consider their pet to be an integral part of their family? Welcoming them into their homes and even bedrooms, sharing their meals with them and, essentially, spoiling them rotten?
The therapeutic power of animals has not gone unseen in society and animals are increasingly being used both in therapy and within social and interactive activities. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is one example of using animals in a therapeutic manner and harnessing their transformative and healing powers. AAT uses a variety of animals such as dogs, cats, horses and even dolphins to improve a patient's emotional, social and/or cognitive functioning. AAT may take place in a number of environments such as in care homes, hospitals, psychiatric units and schools, and may also be brought to the scene of traumatic disasters and social situations to lend support in an otherwise stressful and upsetting situation.
Whether being used to motivate children and enhance learning at school, comfort rescuers and victims of traumatic situations, build communication bridges between patients and therapists or to simply reduce stress and induce happiness, calm and relaxation, AAT provides a clear example of how animals can communicate with and support people on a whole different level to humans.
Take the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) for example (www.rda.org.uk). The RDA gives people with disabilities from all over the UK the opportunity to realise excitement, achievement and enjoyment. It promotes physical, cognitive and emotional therapy though the medium of horse riding, enhancing physical awareness and mobility and helping to increase confidence, build relationships and curtail the effects of progressive diseases. Similarly, Dogs for the Disabled (www.dogsforthedisabled.org) offers freedom and independence to people with disabilities that they might otherwise never have.
So, the next time that your dog is pestering you to play; your cat is seeking attention; your horse needs mucking out in the rain, consider just how much they have given to you throughout their life and take a little extra time to give something back. It may benefit you far more than you would otherwise imagine.