World Animal Day, recognized every year on October 4, is dedicated to improving animal welfare standards across the globe. It brings animal welfare organizations together into a single global movement, with a shared aim of making the world a better place for animals, domestic and wild.
For domesticated animals—the pets we consider family members—much of the focus falls on easing the strain on local animal shelters. Millions of animals enter U.S. shelters every year, and while adoption rates have improved considerably over the past couple of decades, far too many are still waiting. Choosing to adopt rather than buy makes you part of the solution, and you gain everything that comes with sharing your life with an animal. We often think about helping pets in need, and it’s easy to forget how much they do for us in return.
How Pets Can Help Your Mental Health
If you have a pet, you know the feeling of being met at the door with a wagging tail, or of a cat settling on your lap. Researchers have spent a good deal of time looking into what’s behind that, and while this is a field where the evidence is stronger for some claims than others, there are good reasons to think our animals do us real good.
Improved Mood
Interacting with a dog you have a bond with—stroking them, or even just meeting their eyes—is associated with a release of oxytocin, sometimes called the bonding hormone, in both of you. It’s part of why a few minutes with your dog can take the edge off a difficult day.
A More Structured Day
Looking after an animal means making sure they’re fed properly, groomed, and getting enough exercise. Those obligations build routine and predictability into a day, and for many people that structure—and the feeling of being needed—is genuinely steadying.
Reduced Stress
Cortisol is the hormone most associated with stress, and studies have found that time spent stroking a dog or cat can lower it. Most people who live with an animal will recognize the effect without needing the research to tell them.
Companionship
For people who live alone—someone on their own for the first time, or an older person who has lost a partner—an animal in the house can make a real difference to loneliness. Pets also make it easier to connect with other people, whether that’s a conversation with a neighbor on a walk or the regulars at the local park.
How Pets Can Help Your Physical Health
Alongside the effects on mood, there’s research suggesting some physical benefits to living with animals—though it’s worth saying that much of it is observational, so it can be hard to separate the effect of the pet from the fact that people who own pets tend to be more active or more socially connected to begin with.
Reported physical benefits of pet ownership include:
- Lower blood pressure, particularly during stressful tasks
- Lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels
- More daily physical activity, especially among dog owners—which is the most consistently supported finding of the lot
- A reduced risk of cardiovascular events, according to several large population studies
The exercise point is the one to hang your hat on. A dog who needs walking twice a day is a reliable reason to get outside, and that is a benefit no one has to be convinced of.
A Word About Fit
All of this comes with a caveat we think matters. An animal helps most when they’re the right animal for your circumstances. A high-energy dog in a household with no time for them makes life harder rather than easier, for everyone involved. Before adopting, it’s worth thinking honestly about your space, your hours, your budget, and how much activity you can realistically commit to—and asking shelter staff which of their animals would suit. We’re always happy to talk it through as well.
As we mark World Animal Day, it’s worth thinking about what pets give us as well as what they need from us. Assistance animals are a particularly clear case: the AVMA has reported on research linking service dogs to improved emotional well-being for their handlers and families.
If you decide to celebrate World Animal Day by adopting a cat, dog, or other pet, please give us a call to get your new family member started on the path to optimal wellness.