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Kristi Meyers

Professor Bell

English 1201

November 2, 2019

Pet Therapy And Its Benefits

For those of us who own pets, we can all probably say they make our everyday

lives better in some way, right? I know for a fact that my dog makes me feel better.

How did I end up loving animals? How did I end up understanding why they made me

feel better both mentally and physically? It all started when I was a little girl.

I had always wanted a pet—well a dog to be exact—and I was excited about owning my

very first pet. So when I was six years old, my parents bought me my first pet: a beautiful

Labrador puppy. I named her Shallie (shall-E) and after that, I watched her grow into a

smart, wonderful friend and companion.

I once read something online that explained the benefits of owning a pet and how they

can boost our overall health. That got me thinking, if pets can, in fact, boost our overall

health, why can’t doctors prescribe pets as a form of therapy?

I myself remember many times, when I was younger, I would enjoy walking as well as

playing with my dog outside when I could’ve been inside watching TV or playing video

games. It was a positive way for me to get my exercise because it didn’t require a lot of

strenuous activity.

Both physical health and mental health is an important topic of today’s world. Therefore,

it is important that doctors and physicians alike offer us many options of treatment—not

just prescription medications. Today, doctors can now recommend living with pets as an
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option of treatment since pets offer us many health benefits. Because I have and continue

to live with a pet myself, I understand the health benefits it can give me on a daily basis.

This is an important topic for me because it shows me that owning a pet can affect our

lives and our health in many positive ways.

What is pet therapy, you ask? Pet therapy is a broad term used in todays medical

field, but what exactly does it mean? Pet therapy uses animals to help patients recover

from or better cope with health issues such as heart disease, cancer and/or mental health

problems. Today, there is evidence to show that companion animals can in fact change

the health of their owners in a positive way. Dogs and cats, as well as other species can

aid the disabled, and serve as a therapist in institutional settings.

Pet therapy can reduce pain, anxiety, depression and fatigue in people with health

problems. Pet therapy can also work for all kinds of different people, ranging from

children to the elderly. For instance, it can benefit children who have to endure dental

procedures. Animals can put children at ease and lower their heart rate and/or blood

pressure. Animals can also help people who need cancer treatments. Another form is

helping individuals who live with dementia. The list goes on and on. The point is that it

doesn’t matter who you are or what sort of health problems you have, mental or

otherwise, animals can benefit just about anyone. There are also forms of animal-assisted

activities that can occur in nursing home residents. These forms of activities include

providing comfort and enjoyment to the elderly. More than a dozen registered therapy

dogs and their handlers are part of the Mayo Clinics Caring Canine program and make

regular visits to various hospitals. They even make special visits on requests. (Mayo

Clinic)
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Natalie Pond, a marketing and strategic partnership coordinator at a volunteer-

based therapy pet organization called Pet Partners in Washington, says, “It’s not just dogs

that make good therapy pets. Cats can also make good therapy pets along with other

species such as horses, rabbits, pigs, birds, llamas, alpacas, guinea pigs and rats.” (Pond)

Pond shows us that it’s not just dogs that can have an affect on our health, but all animals

alike.

Amy McCullough, the national director of humane research and therapy for the American

Humane Association, divides the benefits of animal interventions into four categories:

physical, psychological, behavioral and social. Goals range from improved socialization

for dementia patients, to calming down vets with PTSD, to guide dogs for the blind.

Animals are also differentiated by their use or training.

For example: animal-assisted therapy is considered interacting with trained animals to

facilitate a patient’s progress toward specific therapeutic goals. Animal-assisted activities

consist of less structured interactions. Those of which are animals visiting nursing home

residents. Service animals are highly trained animals which help individuals do things

they otherwise could not and are allowed many places ordinary pets cannot go. An

example of this would be a seeing-eye dog. Emotional support animals are empathetic pet

with little or no special training. Individuals using this type of animal will need a letter

from a mental health provider which in turn may grant these animals some privileges

usually reserved for service dogs. A companion animal is just a pet that cannot be taken

outside of the home unless they are allowed.

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Researchers who study animal interventions in human health face many obstacles, says

McCullough. Animal tests are difficult to standardize.

Peggy Nepps, clinical psychologist at Lancaster General in Pennsylvania, who researches

and publishes in the field of animal-assisted therapy, agrees the research is too anecdotal.

“The research tends to be fairly short-term.” She suggested that studies of long-term

human/animal interaction would be necessary to determine longer-lasting effects such as

reduction in medication use.

However, a few studies have directly linked animal interventions to decreasing or

avoiding medications. Many more suggest that animal interventions might decrease the

use of medications that are given on an as-needed basis.

A 2007 study led by Elaine Lust of the Creighton University School of Pharmacy and

Health Professions had examined the effects of a live-in therapy dog on 58 residents of a

rehabilitation facility. Researchers measured changes in administration of as-needed

drugs. The dog’s presence correlated with decreased use of lower pulse rates, and

residents’ claims of better quality of life. Researchers concluded that therapy dogs had

the potential to decrease both medication usages for long-term care patients and costs.

They suggested that pharmacists become involved with animal-assisted therapy to

improve patient care. (Med Shadow)

However, in contrast, many Americans are now saying they need a variety of

animals such as dogs, ducks and even insects for their mental health. Though, critics say

they’re really just pets that do not merit special status. In an article by the New York

Times, the number of people claiming to have a right to live with animals for their mental

health has been growing rapidly. Not to mention the rise in animals being allowed on
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planes, stores and in restaurants. In 2011, the National Service Animal Registry, a

company that sells official looking vests and certificates for owners, had 2,400 service

and emotional support animals in their registry. Today, however, that number has reached

up to 200,000. The spread of such animals has been met with concerns ranging from

landlords, to airlines and other businesses. They are complaining that many American’s

who are part of this may be abusing the system. Critics say pet owners are obtaining

phony certificates or letters from online therapists to avoid paying fees. Therefore, more

than two-dozen state legislatures have passed new laws to crack down on fraud.

A law passed in Utah this year makes it a misdemeanor to lie about a pet being an

emotional support animal, a law already on the books that makes it a crime to

misrepresent a pet as a seeing eye dog.

“A true service animal is a highly trained dog,” said Tammy Townley, a state

representative in Oklahoma where restaurants and stores both have a right to keep

support animals out. “When someone comes in with an emotional support animal they are

saying, ‘It’s my service animal.’ No—it’s something you bought a vest for.” (New York

Times)

With that being said, people who adore animals are quick to tell you how much

joy and unconditional love they receive on a daily basis by their furry friends. Mental

health professionals are now also acknowledging those emotions and the endorphins they

release to help people who suffer from mental health issues. Sigmund Freud was not a

stranger to this type of therapy and would often bring his pet, Jofi in his therapy sessions

with his patients.

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Mental health benefits are certainly not the only area emotional support animals are being

used in. People residing in nursing homes are more active when there’s an animal present

in their daily routine that has surprisingly led to a decrease in their medications.

In addition, according to the Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, there has been

an 82% reduction of the symptoms of PTSD (and other trauma related issues) after just

one week of having an emotional support animal. (ESA Doctors)

In one case, a military veteran by the name of Joel Nicholson adopted his service

dog Adonis shortly after leaving his military service in 2009. Back then; Joel began to

notice feelings of depression and memory loss and was relying too much on alcohol to

self-medicate. That was when he decided to check into a PTSD Residential Rehabilitation

Program in West Virginia where the VA doctor suggested he get a service dog. “It was

like night and day for me,” said Joel. He also says that Adonis knows exactly when he’s

feeling tense or irritable, even depressed. When Adonis senses these feelings, he doesn’t

leave Joel alone until he gives him attention in which case helps diffuse these moods.

Joel also explains that on mornings when he doesn’t feel like getting up or doing

anything that day, Adonis will pull the covers off him and make him get up and do stuff.

(Hudak)

There are several testimonials out there about emotional support animals online.

For example, I found a video on assistancedogregistry.com about how an adolescent girl

has an emotional support animal to help her cope with both her anxiety and depression.

The young girl adopted her pet at an animal shelter and named her Ginger. Ginger has

then become an emotional support animal not long afterwards. The girl explains how

Ginger gets rid of her anxiety and depression by just being herself. In the video, Ginger is
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sprawled out on the couch with all four paws in the air. It makes the girl laugh which

cheers her up, in turn making her forget about both her anxiety and her depression.

Cris Burton, a program coordinator at the Alliance For Adolescent Recovery and

Treatment, cuts into the video saying that there’s a lot of scientific evidence to having a

dog in your life which can lead you to have lower blood pressure, a sense of calm,

helping with normal everyday living. They live our lives with us as family members.

It’s a give-and-take relationship we have with our pets, which also helps to benefit

our health. See, pets are also reliant on us, so therefore, which can add routine and

structure to our daily lives. Taking dogs for a walk can help individuals get in exercise,

vitamin D from sunshine, which can help reduce depression. They can also make

wonderful companions, which can help to combat loneliness. Apart from all that, scientist

have found that when we pet a dog it reduces serotonin and dopamine which combats

cortisol that can eventually cause stress in a person’s brain. Petting a dog can reduce

cortisol and lower heart rates. Studies have shown that it’s not just when petting a furry

animal either. Petting a hard-shelled turtle can have the exact same effect. (Mercola)

In a survey of pet owners completed by the Human Animal Bond Research

Institute 74% of pet owners reported mental health improvements and 75% reported a

friend or family’s mental health improvement. Pets have the wonderful ability to make us

forget our troubles. They have a way about them that helps alleviate our symptoms such

as stress, anxiety, depression and even isolation. Pets can also reduce a certain

psychological distress too: fear. The organization, Human Animal Bond Research

Institute works hard to increase the knowledge of the health benefits of pets. Over the

past four years, this organization has raised two million dollars in research projects
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aiming to explain the health benefits of pets as well as animal assisted intervention. In

addition to all of that, they have partnered with the ADAA to raise awareness. (Feldman)

Two-thirds of the U.S. households and close to half the elderly own pets. The

most frequently studied use of animals with elderly participants has been to improve

cognitive symptoms. Demented patients were another study. Those studies showed that

socialization helps as well as long conversations with alert participants were more likely

to occur where animals were present. These positive feelings people have toward animals

in addition to growing evidence of a potential role in the treatment may motivate their

continued use of therapy and ownership among humans and animals. (Cherniack).

Emotional support animals, pet therapy, animal-assistance, it’s important in

today’s world and another great option to therapy. So instead of wasting so much money

on prescription medications which can have both bad side effects as well as the risk of

getting hooked on them, pet therapy is something doctors everywhere should consider.

Works Cited

Bergen, Teresa. “Can Therapy Animals Decrease Medication Use?” MedShadow, 28

Mar. 2019, https://medshadow.org/can-therapy-animals-decrease-medication-use/

Cherniack, E Paul, and Ariella R Cherniack. “The Benefit of Pets and Animal-Assisted

Therapy to the Health of Older Individuals.” Current Gerontology and Geriatrics

Research, Hindawi Publishing Corporation, 2014,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4248608/

Feldman, Steven, et al. “Alleviating Anxiety, Stress and Depression with the Pet

Effect.” Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA,

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https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/alleviating-

anxiety-stress-and-depression-pet

Helen Louise Brooks, et al. “The Power of Support from Companion Animals for People

Living with Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review and Narrative

Synthesis of the Evidence.” BMC Psychiatry, no. 1, 2018, p. 1. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1186/s12888-018-1613-2.

Hudak, Tim. “What Are the Benefits of Service Dogs for Veterans?” VAntage Point, 7

May 2015, https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/19471/volunteers-needed-va-to-

study-benefits-of-service-dogs-emotional-support-dogs-for-veterans/.

“Interview with Pet Partners' Natalie Pond About Therapy Cats.” The Honest Kitchen

Blog, 15 June 2018, https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/blog/interview-with-pet-

partners-natalie-pond-about-therapy-cats/

“Life with an Emotional Support Animal.” ADA Assistance Dog Registry,

https://assistancedogregistry.com/life-with-an-emotional-support-

animal/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI87vIyIuB5gIVB6SzCh2U-

wqbEAAYAyAAEgLq_vD_BwE

“Mental Health Benefits of an Emotional Support Animal.” ESA Doctors, 9 Aug. 2018,

https://esadoctors.com/mental-health-benefits-emotional-support-animal/

“Owning a Pet Benefits Your Mental Health.” Mercola.com,

https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2019/09/22/owning-a-

pet-benefits-your-mental-health.aspx
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Stockman, Farah. “People Are Taking Emotional Support Animals Everywhere. States

Are Cracking Down.”The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 June 2019,

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/us/emotional-support-animal.html

“Therapy Dogs Bring Joy and Healing.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical

Education and Research, 1 Aug. 2018, https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-

lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/pet-therapy/art-20046342

Wells, Deborah L. “SPSSI Journals.” Society for the Psychological Study of Social

Issues, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (10.1111), 23 July 2009,

https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2009.01612.x