The Importance of Animal Companionship

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) reports that based on data from the American Veterinary Medical Association, at the time of publication, approximately 63 percent of all U.S. households have a pet. Clearly, a large percentage of human beings place animal companionship high on their list of priorities. Animal companionship can enhance an individual's life in many different ways, making them an important addition to any household.

  1. Health

    • In their book "Between Pets and People," Alan Beck and Aaron Katcher cite several different studies that indicate a correlation between owning pets and staving off early death in the form of heart disease or cancer. In a separate scholarly paper titled "Animal Contact and the Older Person: Companionship, Health, and the Quality of Life," Alan M. Beck, Sc.D., a professor of animal ecology at Purdue University, reports that "older adults who own animals appear to experience less stress and require fewer visits to their physicians than non-owners."

    Intimacy

    • Pets help to minimize the levels of loneliness that single, widowed, divorced and elderly individuals experience. Men and women can talk to, pet and form a deep emotional bond with their pets. The intimacy experienced with a household pet can serve as a substitute for meaningful human interactions, when opportunities for human encounters are reduced by factors such as illness, aging and antisocial personality disorders.

    Responsibility

    • Pets help give individuals a sense of purpose by making them responsible for the well-being of another living creature. Pets must be nurtured, exercised and taken to the vet. In addition, certain recurring daily tasks like feeding or cleaning up the litter box give individuals a daily ritual that is important and necessary.

    Expanded Horizons

    • Pets create opportunities to form new relationships and explore the world around you. Dogs need to be walked on a regular basis, which opens the door to check out nearby parks and possibly make the acquaintance of your neighbors. In addition, other human beings are attracted to animals, which makes them a perfect conversion starter and a way to keep banter flowing during potentially awkward social interactions.