Written evidence submitted by the Society for Companion Animal Studies [RRS 278]
Introduction and background
The Society for Companion Animal Studies, SCAS, is a multidisciplinary health education charity with members drawn from the health and social care professions. Founded in 1979 SCAS was the first organisation in the world established to research human-animal interactions. The transdisciplinary nature of SCAS creates unique synergies through which can be addressed some of modern society's pressing problems. The focus of our work is the human-animal bond, the relationships that people have with companion animals, and more specifically how to harness the beneficial effects of this bond through companion animal ownership, assistance animal partnerships and animal assisted interventions (AAI). The human-animal bond is now recognised as an important aspect of public health.
SCAS was a Founding Member of The International Association of Human-Animal Interaction Organisations (IAHAIO), the global umbrella organisation, to which national groups studying and advancing this field belong. IAHAIO is a non-governmental organisation now with over 100 member organisations, representing over 300,000 professional indviduals, across six continents. Academic researchers and practitioners collaborate to advance understanding of human-animal interactions. Their findings are applied to further develop programmes and create standards for safe and ethical practice. IAHAIO has issued a series of Declarations on aspects of the human-animal bond to inform and advise local and national governments on the implementation of best practice, and which governments are urged to adopt.
The IAHAIO Geneva Declaration (1995) acknowledges the need for “the universal non-discriminatory right to pet ownership in all places and reasonable circumstances, if the pet if properly cared for and does not contravene the rights of non-pet owners.” The IAHAIO Tokyo Declaration (2007) goes further to state: “It is a universal, natural and basic human right to benefit from the presence of animals,” highlighting the need for housing policy, in particular, to “allow the keeping of companion animals if they can be housed properly and cared for adequately, while respecting the interest of people not desiring direct contact with such animals.”
SCAS members are particularly interested in how the human-animal bond can be applied to help disadvantaged groups and individuals, including older people, people with disabilities, the marginalised and people cared for in institutions. Over the past 43 years SCAS members have introduced programmes throughout the UK which help address the needs of disadvantaged groups. These include hospital visitation programmes such as Pets as Therapy and Therapet; the assistance dog programmes Canine Partners, Dogs for the Disabled and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People; pet fostering services such as Paws for Kids and the Pet Fostering Service Scotland; and programmes for the rehabilitation of offenders, for example Paws for Progress at Polmont Young Offenders Institution.
Implementation of AAI programmes has the potential to deliver improvements in health and quality of life, whilst concurrently delivering significant fiscal savings. This short submission will briefly discuss how the human-animal bond can support and promote health, social care, healthy ageing, quality of life and social capital whilst also delivering fiscal savings.
Members of SCAS have extensive experience pertaining to the issues surrounding pets in housing. SCAS concurs with the IAHAIO Geneva and Tokyo Pets in Housing Declarations. We herewith summarize some main issues.
Studies conducted over the past 50 years, by researchers from many professions, have identified a wide range of benefits across the lifespan that can accrue from animal companionship (McNicholas et al, 2005). A study in China clearly demonstrated positive impacts from dog ownership by comparing the health of women who adopted dogs with those who did not adopt. Until 1992 pets were banned in urban areas and since then dog ownership has become popular, especially. Headey and colleagues (2007) found that the dog owners exercised more, slept better, enjoyed higher self-esteem, had higher self-reported fitness and health, had fewer GP appointments and fewer days off work. Information regarding such benefits is becoming appreciated by the health professions, and companion animals are increasingly being introduced to health and social care facilities to benefit the residents. Improved general health was found in follow up over a year in families following the adoption of a pet (Serpell, 1991). Pet owners tend to take more exercise, an important factor for healthy ageing by preventing and mitigating the chronic illnesses of middle to older age (Johnson et al, 2011). These diseases, linked to lack of exercise and/or obesity, include type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, dementia, heart failure, stroke and various cancers. These illnesses represent a great financial burden to the NHS and have a major impact on those affected, and their families. Of particular note are the cardioprotective effects of pet ownership. Pet owners have lower risk factors for cardiovascular disease, have a lower incidence of heart attacks and strokes, are less likely to suffer from cardiac disease and have enhanced recovery following a serious cardiovascular attack. Overviews of the effects of pets on cardiovascular function were published by The American Heart Association (2013) and Kramer and colleagues in 2019. It has been postulated that these cardioprotective effects are due to elevated levels of oxytocin which occur in the presence of pets. Oxytocin is now recognised as a key regulator of the cardiovascular system (Janokowski et al, 2020).
Pet ownership is linked with enhanced immune function in children. Children who lived with a cat or dog in the first years of life were found to have a lower incidence of allergies including hay fever, to dust mites and animal- related allergies (Ownby et al, 2016). These effects are thought to be due to the “Hygiene Hypothesis” that states that the immune system needs to be exposed to foreign proteins at a key developmental stage.
Research conducted at the University of Warwick found that the immune systems of children, particularly between the ages of five and eight, in pet owning families to be more stable than those of children from non-pet owning families. The pet owning group had better levels of IgA antibodies and had significantly better school attendance (McNicholas, 2002).
Loneliness is now recognised as a very serious issue which can lead to impaired physical health. The causes of loneliness are multifactorial and include demographic changes such as smaller family size; families being separated geographically; higher levels of divorce and separation; and longer lifespans with an aging demographic. Thus, more people now live alone and consequently, since we are a social species, many now suffer from loneliness and depression. However, people can form social bonds with animal companions and recent research documents that the companionship of animals can prevent or mitigate the effects of loneliness. Companion animals provide opportunities for giving and receiving nurture; unconditional, non-judgemental affection and regard; tactile comfort; fun, laughter and spontaneity. The high level of social support derived from animals has advantages compared to support from humans. It is unconditional; always accessible; wholly confidential; unambiguous; and the pet caregiver will never burnout. The need to nurture is strong and should never be denied. The Mental Health Foundation (2018) recognises the role of companion animals in mitigating mental health. A systematic review of the role of pets in mental health support was published by Brooks and colleagues in 2018.
Parents who grew up with companion animals are keen to allow their own children to benefit in a similar way. They state that there are educational and therapeutic benefits for the children and that caring for pets lays the foundations for parenting. In caring for their pets, children learn that sacrifices are needed to care for someone more vulnerable than oneself. Through their experiences of interacting with animal companions and learning how to care for them children develop greater empathy and this extends to other people as well as to animals (Paul and Serpell, 1993). Children who interact with animals also tend have a higher level of self-esteem and better social skills. They may talk to or confide in animals in ways in which they would not with people. During times of transition, such as experiencing parental separation or divorce, children have better long-term outcomes if they are able to keep their dogs (Bergler and Hoff 2001). Children are often more confident in performing difficult tasks when in their animal’s presence, simply because the animal does not care if mistakes are made. Children with emotional, social learning or behaviour disorders can benefit enormously from the presence of and interaction with a companion animal. Dogs and other companion animals have also been found to help some children with autism. Some children who are electively mute have spoken to an animal and gradually learned basic communication skills. It is essential to plan such Animal Assisted Interventions very carefully, with the support of qualified experts, such as a veterinary behaviourist, when considering bringing a companion animal into the home of a child with special needs. A careful assessment and monitoring is required (SCAS Code of Practice in AAI, 2019).
Levinson, an eminent psychologist, was one of the first mental health specialists to recognise the beneficial of pets for children. He described how animals help children to accomplish the developmental tasks of childhood to acquire trust and self-esteem; responsibility and competence; feelings of empathy to others and autonomy (Levinson, 1966).
Exercise is also important for children and families also acquire pets to encourage children and especially boys to spend more time in outdoors in the real rather than the virtual world.
Research documents that dog ownership and interaction exerts a positive influence on the behaviour of young people- reducing their likelihood of becoming involved with gang culture drugs or crime. Bergler and Westendorf’s 1995 research compared city youth with dogs to those without dogs had some startling findings. Youth who had dogs were less likely to be associated with gang culture, take drugs or excess alcohol. They had more traditional values, greater respect for their parents and other elders, and had better academic achievement. The youth viewed their dogs as a coping strategy for the risk factors of urban life including loneliness, violence, crime, aggression. Youth without dogs had higher drug and alcohol use, had poorer relationships with parents and were more likely to join gangs and to be known to the police. Arluke (2010) also encourages animal-assisted activities (AAA) as an effective approach to violence prevention in children and youth. Such interventions curb anxiety and depression, reduce aggression, and reduce recidivism whilst enhancing empathy, decision making, patience and interpersonal communication.
The introduction of dogs, and dog training programmes to a Young Offenders Institutions in the UK and to Youth Corrections in the USA illustrates how disaffected youth can be rehabilitated through caring for dogs. Research found a reversal in poor attitudes as the youth embraced teamwork and engaged with education (Leonardi et al, 2017). Between 1993 and 1999, Merriam-Aduini studying the justice records for youth who had been involved in Project Pooch, a dog training programme at McClaren Correctional Facility in Portland, Oregon found a zero recidivism rate. The POOCH programme achieved educational expectations and judicial orders with success rates, including marked behaviour improvements in "respect for authority, social interaction and leadership", as well as "growth in areas of honesty, empathy, nurturing, social growth, understanding, confidence level, and pride of accomplishment".
Companion animals are now recognised as the greatest creators of social capital. They encourage and facilitate the development of friendlier, safer neighbourhoods (Wood et al., 2005; Wood et al., 2015). Greater levels of neighbourly trust, helpfulness and friendliness are experienced by pet owners, thus illustrating that pet ownership benefits communities (Wood et al., 2017). Higher levels of community dog ownership is linked to lower crime levels (Jacobs, 1961; Pinchak, 2022). Following the introduction of positive pets in housing policies in housing, where previously pets had been banned, managers reported that the effects were positive The presence of the animals had created a sense of community (Hart and Mader, 1986; Crowe, 2009).
Whereas many health and social care facilities now recognise the benefits of pets, and welcome companion animals, many housing providers operate ”no-pet” policies. Only 7% of landlords in England advertise their properties as pet friendly. The lack of pet friendly housing causes far reaching problems for people, animals, communities and our wider society. The options are stark – choose between keeping your animal companion or having a roof over your head. It’s an agonising decision. Some choose to relinquish their pet, usually to an unknown fate. No pet rules are a leading cause of pet surrender to animal shelters. Some choose to become street homeless with their pets, and then experience a Catch 22 situation as few homeless shelters permit pets. Some, unable to face life without their pets, are lost to suicide (Bell, 2017). The anguish felt by the families forced to relinquish their animals is worse than other forms of pet bereavement, there is no closure, and such loss carries much guilt.
SCAS members have made study visits overseas to examine approaches pertaining to pets in housing. The legislation relating to pets in housing is very variable both within countries, and across the globe. Some progressive local, regional and national governments, recognising the issues, have introduced positive pets in housing legislation. These include India, France, Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada (timeline illustration attached). There is much that we can learn through exchange of research findings and practical experiences of integrating pets into communities. An approach that is gaining traction is the Pet Committee. This involves pet owners collaborating with a veterinarian and other animal experts, such as a behaviourist to draft a set of responsible pet ownership rules for pet owners to follow. Once approved by landlords the Pet Committee takes responsibility for inducting new tenants about the rules, and monitoring compliance. Infringements are addressed by the Pet Committee and landlords/management would only be involved if a situation cannot be resolved (SCAS 2005).
Landlords express concerns about the risk of pet damage and associated costs. However, recent research finds that children and adults cause more damage than pets – rental properties are subject to damage (Michelson 2021). A recent YouGov survey found that the majority of pet owners are willing to pay for pet damage insurance and/or pay higher pet deposits. SCAS funded studies relating to landlords’ experiences and attitudes to pet ownership will be presented at our forthcoming online SCAS conference, Pet Friendly Housing: Keeping People and Pets Together on 18th September SCAS Annual Conference | SCAS.
Risks from pets are often exaggerated in the media and can make landlords, especially if they are unfamiliar with pet keeping, nervous about permitting pets. However, the World Health Organisation (1981) emphasised “… companion animals that are properly cared for bring immense benefits to their owners and to society and are a danger to no-one.”
As already stated, pet ownership is correlated with health benefits. Pet owners typically make 15% fewer GP visits. The equates to a cost saving to the NHS of circa £2.45 billion annually (Hall et al). The cost savings from the reduced incidence of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, depression, allergies and other illnesses that could be prevented or mitigated with the support of pets will be considerable, but has not yet been assessed. 40% of the NHS annual budget, i.e. circa £76billion (Kings Fund, 2022) is spent treating potentially preventable physical and mental health conditions, and these are the leading cause of ill health and death in the UK (Marshall, 2016).
In our introduction we referred to the IAHAIO Declarations pertaining to pets in housing viz. the need for “the universal non-discriminatory right to pet ownership in all places and reasonable circumstances, if the pet if properly cared for and does not contravene the rights of non-pet owners” (IAHAIO, 1995) and “It is a universal, natural and basic human right to benefit from the presence of animals,” (IAHAIO, 2007).
Rook (2018) has provided an overview of the legislation pertaining to pets in housing in the UK and overseas and sets out the Human Rights argument.
Conclusion
It cannot be right that people are denied the opportunity to care for a companion animal, and thus the opportunity to improve their health and well-being, to enhance the health and development of their children through such a relationship, or for those suffering from loneliness or mental health to find solace with the support of an animal companion. SCAS strongly recommends the introduction of legislation to prohibit “no pet” covenants in all residences. This is an important aspect of levelling up, to enable people to enjoy the documented benefits of human-animal interaction. Such legislation was successfully introduced to France in 1970. Our experience is that a soft approach to encourage pet friendly policies has not worked. The current situation, with only 7% of private landlords advertising their properties as pet friendly, is much worse than when we began to examine this issue 40 years ago.
We can learn from other countries that have introduced positive pet legislation and policies. Professionals working in the animal care sector can support a more pet friendly approach through their advice and expertise. This is an important issue which must be addressed to improve human health and quality of life and animal welfare. The adoption of pet friendly policies will also improve social capital with enhanced community safety.
References
American Heart Association Scientific Statement (2013) Pet Ownership and Cardiovascular Risk Accessed on 15th July 2022 at DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0b013e31829201e1
Arluke, A. (2010) Animal-Assisted Activities as a Social Experience. In Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapies, Third Edition Accessed on 23rd August 2022 at
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-381453-1.10019-4
Bell, G. (2017) John Chadwick took his own life when told he could not live with pets in Maidstone, KentOnLine. https://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/man-took-his-life-after-125128/
Bergler, R., & Hoff, T., (2001) The positive influence of dogs on children in divorce crisis from the mothers’ perspective and the dog-child-relationship from the child’s perspective. Accessed on 23rd August 2022 at The positive influence of dogs on children in divorce crisis from the mother’s perspective and of the child-dog-relationship from the child’s perspective (researchgate.net)
Bergler, R. & Westerdorf, C. (1995) The Influence of Dogs on the behaviour of juveniles in big cities. Proceedings 7th International Conference on Human-Animal Interactions, Geneva
Brooks H, Rushton K, Lovell K, Bee P, Walker L, Grant L and Rogers A. (2018) 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 (2018) 18:31 DOI 10.1186/s12888-018-1613-2
Coe, J., Young, I., Lambert, K., Nogueira Borden, L., & Rajic, A. (2014) A scoping review of published research on the relinquishment of companion animals. In Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 17(3), 253-273
Crowe, J. (2009) Can a pet-friendly policy work in sheltered housing? Effects of introducing positive pets in housing to Wandsworth Borough. SCAS Symposium Older People Pets and Housing London, 2009
Hall, Sophie, Dolling, Luke, Bristow, Kate et al (2016) Companion animal economics: the economic impact of companion animals in the UK. CABI. ISBN 9781786391728
Hart, L. A., & Mader, B. (1986). The successful introduction of pets into California public housing for the elderly. California Veterinarian, 40(5), 17–21.
Headey, B., Na, F., & Zheng, R. (2008) Pet dogs benefit owners health: A “natural experiment in China. In Soc. Indic. Res. 87:481-493
IAHAIO (1995) Geneva Declaration Accessed on 23rd August 2022 at https://iahaio.org/geneva-declaration/
IAHAIO (2007) Tokyo Declaration Accessed on 23rd August 2022 at https://iahaio.org/tokyo-declaration/
Jacobs, J. (1961). The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House
Janokowski, M., Broderick, T., & Gutkowska, J. (2020) The role of oxytocin in cardiovascular protection. In Frontiers of Psychology. Accessed on 5th August 2022 at https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02139
Johnson, R., Beck, A., McCune, S. (2011) In The Health Benefits of dog walking for pet sand people. Purdue University Press ISBN: 978-1-55753-582-5
Kings Fund (2022) The NHS budget and how it has changed | The King's Fund (kingsfund.org.uk)
Kramer, C., Mehmood, S., Suen, R. (2019) Dog ownership and survival: A systematic review and meta-analysis. In Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. Accessed on 1st June 2022 DOI: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.119.005554
Leonardi, R., Buchanan-Smith, H., McIvor, G., Vick S-J. (2017) “You Think You’re Helping Them, But They’re Helping You Too”: Experiences of Scottish Male Young Offenders Participating in a Dog Training Program In Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14(8),45 Accessed on 23rd August 20202 at (15) (PDF) “You Think You’re Helping Them, But They’re Helping You Too”: Experiences of Scottish Male Young Offenders Participating in a Dog Training Program (researchgate.net)
Levinson, B. (1966) Pets and Human Development Pub by Charles Thomas, Illinois pp 42-52
Marshall, L. The Economic case for preventing ill health (2016) The Health Foundation Accessed on 23rd August at The economic case for preventing ill health The Health Foundation
Mental Health Foundation (2018) Pets and Mental Health Accessed on 23rd July 2022 at Pets and mental health | Mental Health Foundation https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14080945
Merriam-Arduini, S. (2000). Evaluation of a Special Program for Violent, Incarcerated, Male Juveniles in the State of Oregon (Ph.D, Pepperdine University). Discover N Publishing Co.
Michelson Found Animals Foundation & HABRI (2021) Pet Inclusive Housing Initiative Report. https://www.foundanimals.org/pets-and-housing/2021-pet-inclusive-housing-report/
McNicholas, J., Gilbey, A., Rennie, A., Ahmedzail, S., Dono, J-A. & Ormerod E. (2005) Pet ownership and human health: a brief review of the evidence. In British Medical Journal. Accessed on 14th June 2022 at doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.331.7527.1252
McNicholas, J. (2002) Pets boost children’s health. In BBC Health. Accessed on 23rd August at BBC NEWS | Health | Pets boost children's health
Ownby, D. and Johnson, C. Recent understandings of pet allergies. In F1000 Research Accessed on 3rd June 2022 at doi: 10.12688/f1000research.7044.1. eCollection 2016.
Paul, E. & Serpell, J. (1993) Pet ownership in childhood: its influence on attitudes towards animals. In Applied Animal Behaviour Science 35(3):296-296 Accessed on 23rd August 2022 at 10.1016/0168-1591(93)90151-E
Pinchak, N. P., Browning, C. R., Boettner, B., Calder, C. A., & Tarrence, J. (2022). Paws on the Street: Neighborhood-Level Concentration of Households with Dogs and Urban Crime. Social Forces, soac059.
Rook, D. (2018) ‘For the Love of Darcie – Recognising the Human-Companion Animal Relationship in Housing Law and Policy’, Liverpool Law Review, 39, pp. 29-46.
SCAS, Society for Companion Animal Studies (2005) Older People and Pets: a Comprehensive Guide Dono, J-A and Ormerod, E. (Editors) p196 ISBN 0 9548001 17 Published by SCAS
SCAS Conference Pet Friendly Housing: How can we keep people and pets together? SCAS Annual Conference | SCAS
Serpell, J. (1991) Beneficial effects of pet ownership on some aspects of human health and behaviour. In Psychology. Medicine, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Accessed on 12th July 2022 at DOI:10.1177/014107689108401208 Corpus ID: 6132539
Wood, L., Giles-Corti, B., & Bulsara, M. (2005). The pet connection: Pets as a conduit for social capital? Social Science & Medicine, 61(6), 1159-1173.
Wood L., Martin K., Christian H., Nathan A., Lauritsen C., Houghton S., McCune S. (2015) The pet factor – Companion animals as a conduit for getting to know people, friendship formation and social support. PloS One,10(4):e0122085.
Wood, L., Martin, K., Christian, H., Houghton, S., Kawachi, I., Vallesi, S. & McCune, S. (2017) Social capital and pet ownership–a tale of four cities. SSM-Population Health, 3: 442-447.
World Health Organisation (1981) WHO/WSAVA Guidelines to reduce human health risks associated with animals in urban areas. Published by WHO.
August 2022