Not feeling well lately? Perhaps you should visit the SPCA. Adopting an animal from your local SPCA or other animal shelter is the best thing you can do for him or her. However, you may be surprised and delighted at what your pet can and will do for you!

To be or not to be

To be or not to be a pet owner is a question only you can answer. It’s a responsibility not to be taken lightly despite all the benefits that goes with it.

Alfred Montapert reminds us that “animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to”, he says.

So, if you think you are up to it, do support your local SPCA or one of the many other centres for abandoned pets. Be warned though that you may instantly fall in love with the ugliest little thing there. Just know that the feeling will be mutual and last for life!

Benefits of having a pet

It’s a well-known scientifically proven fact that interaction with a gentle, friendly pet has many social, physical and mental health benefits. The very act of petting, stroking or hugging a pet produces an automatic calming and relaxation response in humans due to the release of hormones like serotonin that helps elevate mood and oxytocin that has been linked to emotional bonding, health and healing.

It also:

    • Helps lower blood pressure and improves cardiovascular health. While medicines can reduce high blood pressure, they are not always effective in controlling blood pressure spikes due to tension and stress. Interaction with pets helps lower tension and stress.
    • Improves physical fitness by motivating owners for example to walk their dogs, take out a pony for a ride or just play with a pet. This causes the owner to move more, stretch farther, exercise longer and get healthier.
    • Reduces boredom, lifts spirits and lessens depression.
    • Decreases feelings of isolation, alienation and loneliness and provides comfort during stressful and traumatic times. Animals seem to have an inborn ability to sense when someone needs nurturing and comfort and they don’t judge!
    • Increases socialising and communicating, especially in people who suffer from social anxiety or phobia and fear interacting with others. This kind of incidental social interaction where for example dog walkers smile at each other in passing or maybe even start chatting about their pets can make a huge difference to their self-esteem.
    • Strengthens self-esteem in both adults and children. According to research findings, pet owners are also more extroverted and less fearful than people who don’t own pets.
    • Helps children overcome reading, speech and even emotional disorders. Pets such as horses and dogs have been used successfully in treating autism and ADHD. In America, Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) has instituted a courthouse canines programme in which the presence of specially trained dogs assists child victims of sexual assault. The comforting presence of the dog helps create a non-stressful, non-judgmental environment that helps increase the child’s self-confidence, reduces self-consciousness and makes him or her feel safe.
    • Creates the motivation for people in hospital to recover faster so that they can get back to their pets sooner.

The last word goes to animal lover Anatole France who cautiones us that “until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains un-awakened”.

 

Sources

 

Benefits of pet therapy. Retrieved from: http://pawsforpeople.org/who-we-are/benefits-of-pet-therapy
Cardiff, E. Five life-changing ways your pet can improve your health. Retrieved from: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/ife-changing-ways-your-pet-can-improve-your-health/
Fishman, M. 2015. Court dogs soothe child victims. Retrieved from:  http://www.delawareonline.com/story/life/2015/10/09/court-dogs-soothe-child-victims/73651922/
Marsden, F. The health benefits of pets. Retrieved from: http://www.bupa.com.au/pet-insurance/the-health-benefits-of-pets/#homesection