The Importance Of Pet Ownership

“Animals in our environment are like parts of our body. If we eliminate them, we destroy part of ourselves. People must remain in contact with and relate to the environment throughout their lifetime to remain healthy. A strong people-animal bond is critical to a healthy community” (Bustad, 1981).

Pets have always been a part of our lives for as long as we can remember. Be it for security, for the love of animals, or simply as a way of living, we have always enjoyed the company of a pet. Pets have not only helped us at our difficult times, but they have helped millions of our forefathers (Cusack & Smith, 1984). Pets are not human. However, they possess a lot of human like qualities, which include emotions, preferences, etc. By definition, pets

Also, owning a pet was directly liked to health and activeness (N= 3500). The present study also paves way for understanding as to how pet ownership can help the elderly who are suffering from a chronic disability (Rijken & Beek, 2011).

In a quantitative study by Rebecca A. Campo, in her “Humans’ Bonding with their Companion Dogs: Cardiovascular Benefits during and after Stress”, in 2013, it was studied that compared to participants with a close friend present, those who had dogs with them, had a lower heart rate and diastolic blood pressure, while undergoing the stressors and also tended to have a lower heart rate and systolic blood pressure while recovering from the stressors. It was also stated that dogs might be directly liked to greater reductions in the owners’ cardiovascular reactivity to stress (N= 162). Likewise, in this paper, we can look at how pet ownership affects the physical health of the geriatric population (Campo,

After this, the participant will be asked to fill the questionnaire. After the completion of this test, Mini-Cog will be administered. For this test, the participant’s attention will be obtained. After that, the participant will be asked to listen carefully to what is being told. 3 unrelated words would be read out to the participant. He or she will then be asked to repeat those words in the same order. A total of three tries will be given. Even if the participant fails to repeat the words after three tries, the next sub-test is administered. A sheet of paper with a circle drawn on it is kept in front of the participant. He or she is then asked to draw the face of a clock, with the numbers, and is also asked to draw the hands of the clock to read a specific time. A time limit of three minutes will be set for this sub-test. Even if the participant fails to complete the sub-test at the end of three minutes, the next sub-test is administered. The participant will then be asked to repeat the three previously presented words. While administering this test, a clock should not be present within the participant’s view (S, J, M, P, & A, 2000). At the completion of this test, the results will be drawn from both the tests. Only persons who score low in GHQ-12 and high in Mini-Cog will continue further in the study, while those who score high