Health Cost Savings: The Impact of Pets on Australian Health Budgets The Australian NATIONAL PEOPLE & PETS SURVEY 1994 (N = 1011) showed that dog and cat owners make fewer doctor visits and appear to have better health than non-pet owners. It follows that the presence of pets in a majority of Australian households entails savings in health expenditure. This paper provides the first preliminary estimates of these savings. Eight per cent of GDP, over $30 billion, is spent on health care, of which 68% is government expenditure and 32% private. Our calculations indicate that the presence of pets could save between $790 million and $1.5 billion, annually, depending on whether it is assumed that only the main carers of pets enjoy health benefits, or whether other family members are assumed to benefit also. The paper outlines future research requirements which would enable more precise estimates of savings to be calculated.

Health Benefits of Animals ActionGuide (Delta Society)

Developing a Physiology of Inclusion: Recognizing the Health Benefits of Animal Companions
by James J. Lynch, Ph.D., Life Care Health

The first was the recent publication of my book The Broken Heart: The Medical Consequences of Loneliness (Basic Books, 1977), in which I described how human loneliness had emerged, unseen and unappreciated, as one of the single most important contributors to premature death in America. Those who lived alone -- the single, the widowed and the divorced -- had death rates from all causes that ranged anywhere from 2 to 10 times greater than the rates of those who were married. Loneliness, it turned out, was a major contributor to heart disease, the single most important cause of death in America. (Detailed references to this and all other studies described in this review are on our web site: www.lifecarehealth.com.

The second event occurred a couple of years later, and involved a research study that I had conducted with Dr. Aaron Katcher and our colleagues. In that study, we uncovered the powerful influence that pet animals had on the long-term survival of heart patients released from a university Coronary Care Unit. This particular study was part of a much larger effort we had undertaken to find and develop useful clinical approaches to help effectively counteract the devastating health toll exacted by human loneliness.

We planned to follow a large group of heart patients for several years, and ask the question as to what determines long-term survival once these patients were released from a coronary care unit. While the question was simple enough, the study itself involved the analysis of hundreds of physical, social and economic variables. We made every effort to include every variable that might conceivably influence the long-term survival of these patients. Not surprisingly, the most potent factor influencing long-term survival was the extent of damage to the heart tissue itself. The greater the myocardial damage to the heart, the greater the risk of death within the year after release from coronary care.

Yet we were scarcely prepared to believe the second most important variable. Those heart patients who had pets had a far better chance of living than those who did not have pets. 78 of the 92 patients that we followed lived for at least one year, while another 14 patients died. Of the total group of patients, 58% reported that they had one or more pets, while 42% did not have any pets. One year later, after their release from the hospital, 28 of the patients without pets were still alive and 11 had died. Of those with pets, 50 were still alive and only three had died. It was a mortality pattern that stunned us. Four times more patients without pets had died within the first year, even though they comprised only 42 percent of the population! It was a landmark finding, and one that prompted us to pursue this remarkable influence further.

We also observed that when children read books aloud (whether in schools or at home or in the laboratory) their blood pressure increased, sometimes up to very precipitous levels. It was these observations that led us to study factors that might help to lower their pressure. The introduction of pet animals did the trick. Aaron Katcher and I, as well as other colleagues, studied 38 children and observed that the presence of a pet dog resulted in lower blood pressure both when the children were quiet as well as when they read a book aloud. A potentially inexpensive way to aid children to read had been suggested.

This brings me back to Rags, my daughter Kathleen, and that "Sixty Minutes" program. We intended to demonstrate this reading effect by having Kathleen sit all alone in a chair, be quiet for three minutes, read poetry for two minutes, then be quiet again for three minutes, after which we would place her pet dog on her lap. She exhibited the usual pressure increases while reading the book aloud, and then her pressure returned to baseline levels when she was quiet once again. And then Rags was placed on her lap, and just as soon as she began to stroke the dog, her pressure fell precipitously, down almost 50% from the peak recorded while reading the poetry, to an entirely new baseline level. Fifteen or 20 years earlier I had observed the exact same type of response from dogs studied in a laboratory at The Johns Hopkins Medical School. As soon as human beings petted the dogs, they too would react with highly significant reductions in their blood pressure. This type of vascular response was recorded not only in dogs, but also in horses and other species of animals. It took an additional two decades to recognize that very similar reactions occurred in human beings when they petted their animals. Animals reacted to touch, and human beings reacted as well, in very powerful ways.

The evidence was becoming overwhelming. Animals and the way we interacted with the rest of the natural living world had a truly profound effect on our hearts and blood vessels.

This led us to gradually begin to decode what I came to identify as the Language of the Heart. (Basic Books, 1985), as well as develop a concept that I now call the physiology of inclusion. This bodily reflex operates exactly opposite to the physiology of exclusion (see A Cry Unheard, Bancroft Press, 2000). In essence, dysfunctional dialogue, withdrawal from dialogue or in a social context where other people (and animals) are seen as a threat, triggers the repetitive activation of what physiologists long ago labeled as the "fight/flight response." This reflex, regulated by the autonomic nervous system, developed in higher mammals over the eons of evolution. Faced with meeting the proverbial saber tooth tiger or the wooly mammoths of old in the primeval forest, both human beings as well as non-human mammals had to have a way to react quickly to preserve their lives. Unfortunately, though the saber tooth tigers have long since disappeared, the human body still responds to symbolic threats as if they were the real things. It is the repetitive mobilization of such excessive fight/flight in situations that do not require such reactions, which eventually wears down the human body.

It was the development of new computerized blood pressure technology that revealed the surprising frequency of such reactivity in everyday dialogue and in everyday social interactions. These repetitive, undetected, and maladaptive fight/flight reactions, frequently wired in early in life by the experience of parental "toxic talk," or educational failure, would inexorably lead to physiological exhaustion. This in turn helped to create a biologically based need to withdraw from others for self-preservation. This communicative reflex of exclusion, would increase loneliness and social isolation, and ultimately lead to premature disease and premature death. And as noted elsewhere in A Cry Unheard, "dialogue that includes others -- a dialogue that did not respond to others, or the living world around them as a potential threat -- would activate the opposite type of physiological response, a Physiology of Inclusion, which is a biological state of enhanced relaxation. It produces physiological responses that do not merely bring the body back to baseline levels, but rather into a state of enhanced relaxation." This produces precisely the opposite physiological state, one that produces health and longevity. It is one that draws people out of themselves, closer to others in dialogue, rather than excluding and sealing them off.

Recent Discoveries About Our Relationships With The Natural World

Chapter from Compassion: Our Last Great Hope-Selected Speeches of Leo K. Bustad, DVM, Ph.D. Published by Delta Society, Renton, WA l996

Overview

Clinical observations and the results of recent research lend credibility to the centuries-old belief that the association of people with animals and the natural environment contributes to overall health and well-being. Recently we have "rediscovered" that a close relationship between people and the natural environment, most especially animals, is vital to the well-being of our planet, its inhabitants and its habitat. This relationship helps fulfill our inherent need to nurture. The roots of this relationship, often referred to as a "bond," go back thousands of years; but urbanization, industrialization, mechanization and other forces have caused the diminution of the opportunities for nurturing and affectionate interaction with people and our natural surroundings. This deprivation of nurturing opportunities has resulted in increased stress and consequent challenges to our health.

This unhealthy state of affairs is being vigorously addressed by many people in many disciplines with the object of helping to restore health to communities everywhere. We in the Delta Society and in our sister organizations in other countries are directing our efforts to these ends by exploring the interaction of people, animals and the environment through scientific study, service and teaching.

In the past two decades, research and clinical observations have shown that animal association may contribute to:

• Higher one-year survival rates following coronary heart disease (Friedmann et al, 1980; Friedmann and Thomas, 1995)
• Reduction in blood pressure and stress level in healthy subjects, as well as changes in speech pattern and facial expression , and lower plasma triglyceride and cholesterol levels (Baun et al., 1984; Katcher et al., 1984; Katcher, 1987; Wilson, 1991; Allen et al., 1991; Anderson et al., 1992)
• Improvement in quality of life for elderly persons (Robb, 1987; Stallones, 1990)
• Socialization of young children with their peers (Hart et al, 1987; Nielsen and Delude, 1989)
• Development of nurturing behavior and humane attitudes in children who may grow to be more nurturing adults (Melson, 1990; Ascione, 1992)
• A sense of constancy for foster children (Hutton, 1985)
• More appropriate social behavior in mentally impaired elderly people and prisoners (Burke et al, 1988; Jecs, Dawn, personal communication; Lee, David, personal communication; Hendy, 1984; Katcher et al., 1989)
• Success in psychotherapy sessions and in psychiatric institutions in helping patients work through their anxiety and despair (Peacock, 1984; Beck et al., 1986; Holcomb and Meacham, 1989)
• Improved balance, coordination, mobility, muscular strength, posture and language ability as a result of therapeutic horseback riding (ITRC, 1988; Biery and Kauffman, 1989; Dismuke, 1984)
• Reduction in the demand for physicians’ services for medically nonserious problems among Medicare enrollees, and an apparent buffering effect against psychological stress (Siegel, 1990; Siegel, 1993)
• Facilitation of social interaction between strangers (Hunt et al., 1992)
• Highly significant reduction in minor health problems and highly significant improvement in psychological components of general health, plus a dramatic increase in recreational walks by dog-owners (Serpell, 1991)
• Encouragement of preadolescents’ emotional reciprocity and caring responsibility, as well as lessening feelings of loneliness (Davis and McCreary Juhasz, 1995)

Those studying the interactions between people, animals and the natural environment find it very difficult to overestimate the significance of animals in the lives of people everywhere (Anderson, 1975; Anderson et al., 1984; Arkow, 1986, 1989; Fogle, 1981, 1983, 1986; IIRHPR, 1985; Katcher and Beck, 1983; Rowan, 1988; and Delta Annual Meeting Abstracts and the journal Anthrozoös). The number of animals in our society is impressive. At this time, the generally cited number of dogs in the U.S. is 55 million, and of cats 60 million. Determining the number of cats is especially difficult because many people feed free-ranging cats that are not officially claimed by anyone. In this regard, the number of stray and feral cats is estimated at 25-40 million. This number is not included in the owned population. Researchers are now addressing the problems inherent in estimating dog and cat populations and have proposed ways to arrive at more realistic population data (Patronek and Glickman, 1994; Patronek, 1995; Patronek and Rowan, 1995).

Even homeless men and women often contrive to maintain pets whose affection and companionship are highly important to them (Kidd and Kidd, 1994). This has been recognized in England, where the Hope Project was started in 1991 to provide veterinary services to homeless people with dogs, including vaccination, worming, flea prevention and free neutering (Kase, 1996). Beginning in London, this project has been extended to other cities.

Animals (or their images) often appear in art, comics, celebrations, dreams (up to 57 percent of dreams of 4-year-old boys involve animals, according to Van de Castle, 1983), fables, folklore, food, imagination, language, medicine, music, photographs, religion, wishes, work and worries. At long last, animals are gaining some legitimate recognition among more and more members of the professions involved in providing health care. In fact, we are reaching a point where, for some conditions, animal interaction is the therapy of choice.

The importance of animals to the well-being of people is becoming more and more evident. This is especially true as we realize that at no time in history have so many members of Western society been devoid of healthy interaction among themselves and with the environment. More and more people are electing to live alone; many who are married choose not to have children. Singles or couples who have children are compartmentalized. Many fathers and mothers work outside the home, usually in different locations and sometimes on different schedules. Children are usually born in a hospital, spend a great deal of time in daycare centers, and then proceed to kindergarten, elementary school and high school-usually all in different locations (the one-room school I attended is a thing of the past). When at home, children are watching television or wearing headphones attached to a source of sound, usually loud music. This deprivation of nurturing opportunities and compartmentalization has resulted in increased stress, depression, loneliness, and overall serious challenges to the health and well-being of a significant segment of our population. Companion animals have refused compartmentalization and serve as nurturers for many people; they also are objects of nurture, promoting touching, playing, and sharing with few time restraints.

In a study of a multi-ethnic sample of 877 Los Angeles County adolescents (Siegel, 1995) about half lived in households that owned pets. Among the pet owners, 64% reported that their pets were very or extremely important to them; only 10% said the pets were "not at all" or "not too" important. Adolescents with no siblings living at home rated their pets as more important than did others; so did those with sole responsibility for care of the pet.

Many studies demonstrate the importance of touch in human-animal interactions. Aaron Katcher has been an articulate spokesman relative to the importance of touch; he reminded us (Katcher, 1981) that in the English language, a companion animal is a "pet" which means to touch and caress. He found that although men in Western societies initiate and respond to touching much less frequently than women, in waiting rooms of veterinary clinics there were no differences between men and women in the frequency, amount and kind of touching of their pets. It seems that dogs, and possibly other animals, serve as appropriate and safe objects of nurture through which both men and women can express and receive affection, even in public.

Children, especially males, when they reach the ages from 5 to 8, decline and even resist physical contact by and between parents or other adults. But Katcher suggests that the presence of a pet can renew the joys of touch for the child who can set the "rules" and time and nature of affectionate displays.

I believe there is overwhelming evidence that human health and well-being depend on the quality of social interrelationships (significantly touch) throughout life (House et al., 1988; Lynch, 1977). One of the most impressive examples of this is the dire effect on infants resulting from lack of contact with mothers, a condition seen in both humans and animals (Pauk et al, 1986; Schanberg and Field, 1987; Bartolme et al, 1987, 1989; Barnes, 1988; Katcher, 1988). When social contact is absent, infants have been seen to manifest an immobilization response with decreased activity and sensitivity, increased secretion of endorphins and concomitant decrease in the secretion of growth hormone.

In many domestic animals, as well as other mammals (Bustad, 1987) and birds (Gross and Siegel, 1982), gentle handling and social contact increase their resistance to diseases, their survival from major surgery, their growth, efficiency of feed utilization and conception rate, and makes them more relaxed and more easily handled. Of significance, too, is the psychophysiological response to contact comfort that persists into adulthood. A study of beef and dairy cows (Sato et al., 1993) showed that closely related and same-age cows licked each other most often, but such grooming was also frequent among others in the herd. The researchers suggest that grooming contact may reinforce social bonds and suppress aggressiveness.

As Katcher (1988) has noted "...the process of giving care to others, the acts of nurturing, touching, holding, protecting, giving food, and guiding, evoked the same feelings, and the same physiological events as being nurtured. In its most simple form, when we care for others we feel as if we are cared for. That is why owners are so certain that their pets give them overwhelming love." In my observations, nurturing a significant other can relieve depression and loneliness.

Recommendations

Our knowledge and understanding of the critical importance of the human-animal bond to individuals and to society is steadily increasing. As we become more aware of the importance of this interaction, we must begin to formulate ideas and programs, such as those outlined below, which will serve to promote the human-animal-environment bond. The following are but a few of the programs of service and teaching that we can implement in this regard.

• Increase support of a data-based research effort on human-animal interactions and animal-assisted therapy (Beck and Rowan, 1994). For example, there are studies that suggest a link between closely bonded companion animals and the long-term health and well-being of people. Because of the cost and complexity involved in a long-term definitive study, it is recommended that existing large epidemiological studies be re-examined and follow-up data be obtained pertaining to any linkage of disease incidence (e.g., cardiovascular disease) and the presence or absence of a closely bonded animal. Future national health surveys should include questions related to the presence or absence of closely bonded animals. Longitudinal studies are a must.
• Expand prison programs involving animals. For example, in a program involving selected maximum security prisoners that train animals to assist people who have disabilities, dogs have been trained to alert their seizure-prone owners to an imminent seizure. This remarkable finding needs to be investigated to determine how to pre-select such dogs for training and what type of training methods should be utilized.
• In conjoint efforts with authorities and qualified personnel, establish criteria for certification of all classifications of service animals. This certification should also include animal-assisted therapists and animal trainers.
• Promote programs that train certified service animals. An important new study (Allen and Blascovich, 1996) found substantial economic as well as psychological and social benefits when wheelchair mobile individuals with major disabilities were provided with service dogs. Costs per week for paid assistance decreased by 68%. Allowing for the cost of training and maintaining the dogs, this could result in an estimated net savings of $55,000 to $92,000 per person in eight years (estimated service period of a dog). Other researchers have found evidence that people without disabilities react less negatively toward those with disabilities when the latter are accompanied by service dogs (Mader and Hart, 1989; Eddy et al., 1988; Valentine et al., 1993).
• Develop strategies for third-party payments for animal-assisted therapy
• Educate authorities regarding the need many people have for close attachment to an animal. Through information sessions, publication, and consultancy to legislative bodies, make it possible for more people to have legal access to close animal interaction and train animal owners in responsible animal care and obedience training of their dogs (see Hart et al., 1985).
• Encourage the development of bioparks as described and promoted by Dr. Michael Robinson (1988a), director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington Zoo. These bioparks would serve to educate children and adults, giving them real hands-on experience in converted zoological gardens where visitors would learn about animals not only by sight and sound but also by smell and touch. Such exposure, properly organized and implemented, could fulfill some of our recommendations.
• It is a matter of urgency that the education and training effort be improved and expanded in several areas, including:
  1. Education of youth in practical aspects of nurturing one another, animals and our natural environment.
  2. Training of veterinarians, animal technicians, social workers, and health care professionals in grief counseling for those who have suffered the loss of closely bonded animals. We should also encourage more groups to form regular grief-counseling sessions.
• There is an increasing need to address the plight of AIDS (acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome) victims, most especially children. Many AIDS patients could benefit by animal association. Authorities should be informed that removing companion animals from these patients would accomplish very little in eliminating disease, and would remove for some the only source of unconditional love, security, acceptance, forgiveness, fun and touch. Well-screened healthy animals should be made available, along with informed, well-trained volunteers committed to helping in this effort. Delta Society has information available on the subject of animals and AIDS.

The consequences of loss of suitable objects of nurture have been inestimable, and to counteract this downward spiral, we must also mobilize our communities to address this situation now and for the future. I naively propose a solution that is unique in today’s world in that it will be fun and the cost will be modest.

The solution proposed is to bring nurturing instruction into the elementary and secondary school system. Children should be taught to care for living things including each other, animals, plants, soil and the environment-to become stewards of this planet by "hands-on" experience in tending the earth and its creatures. Involving students in a "big brother" and "big sister" arrangement for care and instruction at all grade levels in nurturing of animals and plants will promote cooperation, compassion and enhance nurturing skills. Group projects in each class should also be promoted, as well as projects which involve animals in their natural habitat. As Konrad Lorenz, to whom we pay tribute at this conference, taught us, we could learn a great deal more about animals by observing them in their natural habitat.

As a result of 10 years experience with our curriculum, Learning and Living Together-Building the Human Animal Bond (Vaughan et al., 1986), we have found it to be helpful in teaching children from preschool to the 6th grade. Additional lessons on Reverence for Life, Behavior of Animals and Tending the Earth are being considered for later inclusion. I also initiated a course entitled "Reverence for Life" which I have taught at the university level for more than fifteen years.

Other beneficial programs have been instituted at Canyon Park Elementary School in Santee, California, at Gullett Elementary School in Austin, Texas, and at the Ott Elementary School in Phoenix, Arizona (Kaye, 1984).

Another outstanding model for children and youth is the one developed by Dr. Sam Ross and his associates at Green Chimneys in Brewster, New York, to address the needs of vulnerable children and teenagers from the inner city. These youngsters have learned the rewards of nurturing, including gaining competence in farm-related tasks, thereby enhancing self-esteem and developing a reverence for all of life. This is a far better choice than dropping out of school for careers in crime, addiction and violence, options which compromise health and lead to an early death. The Green Chimneys experience should have wide appeal and broad application. It could well serve as a national, even a world, model for the general reform of education starting with the very young (Ross 1981; Ross et al, 1984).

Admittedly, there’s a big jump from a child learning nurture. of a guinea pig in a classroom to saving the rainforest. However, nurturing one another and animals and plants and practicing conservation is a big first step. Paraphrasing Dr. Katcher, proper care of the family pet is the first lesson in the book of environmental ethics (Katcher, 1988). We must immerse students in living things. The growing interest in nourishing and caring for plants and animals must be encouraged, especially in our children, for we need to preserve and care for the life of the entire planet.

Recently, we have come to realize how fragile our planet is (Robinson, 1989). Children must come to realize that nature is not an enemy to conquer, but an entity in need of tender care and concern. Our future together here on planet Earth depends upon our addressing this need with careful haste. Animal, plant and soil specialists at the local level need to work together with educators, health professionals, lawyers, philosophers, politicians, scientists (including molecular biologists) and theologians to implement such a program (see Wilson, 1989 and other articles in the September, 1989 issue of Scientific American).

National and world priorities must be reordered to address a great deficiency on planet Earth (Bustad, 1989). At a time when nations are planning cooperative efforts to place people on Mars, the very future of the health and well-being on our own planet is in jeopardy. We have defined and described probably less than 10% of the species on planet Earth. There are frequent reports that list the number of species on the endangered list or that are now extinct. The truth is that we really don’t know how many species are endangered or lost because we don’t know what we have.

We are now at a time where we are experiencing not only an increased cooperation between nations, but also a growing sensitivity and reverence for life and a greater interest in curricular change in our school systems. We must take this opportunity to promote international cooperation in defining our species, and to work together in nurturing people, animals, plants and our environment, thereby contributing to a secure future for this planet. With an emphasis on nurture of people, animals and environment, chances of attaining peace will also be greatly enhanced. Animals and children can help promote a state of peaceful coexistence between people and the rest of this remarkable planet.

I believe, as I conclude, that an interesting area with great potential for benefiting and enriching the lives and conditions of people and animals is opening to us in research, service and teaching. By working with colleagues worldwide in a variety of disciplines, we can develop new and creative ways to realize the great potential inherent in people-animal-environmental interactions properly studied and utilized. On the basis of my experience for the last two decades, I am devoting my remaining days to this adventure-a call for compassion, educated concern, nurturance and its early incorporation into our educational curriculum, and reverence for all of life. My plea is that we heed the words of Alfred Tennyson: "Come, my friends, 'tis not too late to seek a newer world."

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Recent Studies on How the Presence of Pets Affects People During Life Transitions

by Ann R. Howie, ACSW

The Presence of Pets in Young Families Experiencing Cancer

What is the impact of the presence of pets on families undergoing a life crisis? Victoria Ravels, Francis Mesagno, Daniel Darus, and Diane Gottfried of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York studied this issue and presented a paper at the 1994 Delta Society Conference documenting the results of their research.

They found that the presence of pets can have several beneficial consequences. The presence of companion animals, especially cats and dogs, had a beneficial impact on the adult caregiver while caring for the spouse who had cancer. Parents reported that pets helped them feel better when sad. A surprising number felt that pet care was not a burden, even though they were caring for their spouse. Adults who were terminally ill frequently remarked that their pets were important in helping them cope when they felt distressed during their illness by providing a reason to live and consistent companionship and affection. The companionship of pets (particularly dogs) helped children in families adjust better to the serious illness and death of a parent. The benefits were observed in five areas: children received love at a time when their need for love was enormous; children were able to confide their feelings more readily to their pets than to people; taking care of their pet helped maintain daily structure in the midst of a vast disruption in their daily routines; children felt competent by taking care of the pet at a time when their lives felt out of control; and children felt needed by their pet.

Pets' Roles in Children's Emotional Development

Preschool through first-grade children view their pets as playmates and protectors. This view changes by the time children reach third through fifth grades; pets are then seen as a confidant and source of emotional support. Regardless of age and developmental level, however, most children view their pets as special friends and important members of their family. Sandra Triebenbacher from East Carolina University reports that most children talk to their pets. In addition, most children feel that mutual "love" is conveyed verbally and nonverbally between them and their pets.

When children are going through a transitional stage in their lives, they will choose a transitional object, such as a blanket or teddy bear. They keep this object close to themselves, and it gives them comfort. Triebenbacher found that children will interact with their pets in much the same way they do with transitional objects: rubbing, stroking, cuddling, and kissing. In this way, she learned that children may use their pets as transitional objects, seeing their companion pets as providing comfort, security, and emotional support.

Triebenbacher, S.L. (1994). "Pets as Transitional Objects: Their Role in Children's Emotional Development." Department of Child Development and Family Relations, School of Human Environmental Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville. NC.

Health Benefits of Pet Ownership (VCU) Contact with pets develops nurturing behavior in children who may grow to be more nurturing adults (Melson, 1990). Contact with pets develops nurturing behavior in children who may grow to be more nurturing adults (Melson, 1990).

Health Benefits of Pets (NIH, 1987)

Healthy Pets, Healthy People

Health Benefits Animals Give Humans by N. Buglione

Role Pets Play in the Psyche of Their Owners by M. Baiocco

Humans and Other Animals  (Jo Swabe)

Human/Dog Bond: A Mysterious Chemistry by G. Simmons [Mainstream, Vol. 26, No. 3, Fall 1995 - Animal Protection  Institute]

Dogs and Cats: Keeping a Pet-Loving Family Healthy (Mayo Clinic)

Loving  Animals to Death by T. Perry [Animal Issues, Vol. 30, No. 2, Summer 1999 - Animal Protection Institute]

Pet Owners Are a Healthy Breed

Pet Ownership and Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease by W. P. Anderson, et al.

The Power of Pets (Australian Companion Animal Council)