Pet Ownership may address Community Health Crisis

<p class=”standfirst”>Here is a very interesting press release from the People Pets & Planning about the health benifits associated with owing a cat or dog. Most of which we cat and dog owners already knew but its nice to have these things validated.

“Mental health, social isolation, obesity and depression. The emerging research was revealed at the recent  People, Pets and Planning Symposium held at Deakin University.

Pet ownership combined with pet friendly urban planning may help to address urgent social issues of poor An international first, the symposium brought together over a dozen academics and experts who presented research demonstrating the beneficial relationship between companion animals (particularly cats and dogs), social trust and social capital.

While previous research relates to the individual benefits of pet ownership, new research suggests that there are collective benefits for communities via the presence of pets, extending well beyond pet owners themselves. 1Dr Lisa Wood, a research fellow of The University of Western Australia, has been investigating the relationship between pets, social capital, neighbourhood environments and health as part of a larger study being conducted in Perth. Her research concludes that:

· 84% of pet owners spoke with other pet owners when walking their dog
· 50% of dog owners got to know others as a result of their dog
· 70% pet owners rarely or never felt lonely
· 74 % pet owners rarely or never found it hard meet others
· 60% of pet owners were more likely to be actively engaged in community activities…”

To download a pdf of the press release from People, Pets & Planning click here.