Dog ownership benefits owners and society

As has been said many times, the current leash law scheme discourages pet ownership by making it difficult to provide for pet needs. Yet there is a large and growing body of data that demonstrate the positive effects provided by dog ownership to people from children to the elderly. The CDC, the Mayo Clinic and the National Institute of Health all cite a variety of studies on the contributions which pets make to the health of their owners. Society at large reaps benefits both in the form of lower costs to the public healthcare system and through reduction in the loss of productivity associated with age, depression and many chronic health problems.

The Delta Society lists the following studies on its website:

· Pets fulfill many of the same support functions as humans for adults and children. (Melson, 1998).
· Children exposed to humane education programs display enhanced empathy for humans compared with children not exposed to such programs. (Ascione, 1992). Children who own pets score significantly higher on empathy and prosocial orientation scales than non-owners. (Vidovic, 1999).
· Positive self-esteem of children is enhanced by owning a pet (Bergensen, 1989). And children's cognitive development can be enhanced by owning a pet (Poresky, 1988). Children owning pets are more involved in activities such as sports, hobbies, clubs or chores. (Melson, 1990).
· Children with autism have more prosocial behaviors less autistic behaviors such as self-absorption. (Redefer, 1989).
· Pet owners feel less afraid of being a victim of crime when walking with a dog or sharing a residence with a dog. (Serpel, 1990).
· Pet owners have better physical health due to exercise with their pets. (Serpel, 1990).
· Seniors who own dogs go to the doctor less than those who do not. In a study of 100 Medicare patients, even the most highly stressed dog owners in the study has 21 percent fewer physician's contacts than non-dog owners. (Siegel, 1990).
· Activities of daily living (ADL) level of seniors who did not currently own pets deteriorated more on average than that of seniors who currently owned pets. (Raina, 1999).
· Seniors who own pets coped better with stress life events without entering the healthcare system. (Raina, 1998).
· Pet owners have fewer minor health problems (Friedmann, 1990, Serpel, 1990). Pet owners have lower blood pressure. (Friedmann, 1983, Anderson 1992) and lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels than non-owners (Anderson, 1992).
· Companionship of pets (particularly dogs) helps children in families adjust better to the serious illness and death of a parent (Raveis, 1993).
· Contact with pets develops nurturing behavior in children who may grow to be more nurturing adults (Melson, 1990).
· Pet owners have a higher on-year survival rates following coronary heart disease (Friedman, 1980, 1995). Having a pet may decrease heart attack mortality by 3%. This translates into 30,000 lives saved annually (Friedman, 1980).
· Medication costs dropped from an average of $3.80 per patient per day to just $1.18 per patient per day in new nursing home facilities in New York, Missouri and Texas that have animals as an integral part of the environment. (Montague, 1995).
· People who have AIDS that have pets have less depression and reduced stress. Pets are a major source of support and increase perception the ability to cope. (Siegel, 1999, Carmack, 1991).