The Importance of Animal Companionship
Alan M. Beck

Animals have always been used by human beings--first for food and then for transportation. When people began to live in villages, more than 15,000 years ago, additional roles included protection and companionship, and the animals began to share our homes.

There is now considerable evidence that contact with animals has beneficial health implications for people. Early reports documented that animal owners enjoyed a greater chance of one-year survival after a heart attack, and more recent studies show that animal owners have improved morale in everyday living. In general, people interacting with animals experience a decrease in blood pressure and display overt behaviors indicating a more relaxed state.

Most people talk to their dogs, cats, and birds. The voice tones and style of speech used when communication with pets resemble the baby talk used with infants. The facial expressions are, however, different. Those used with infants tend to be exaggerated, as if the parent or other adult was training the baby to express feeling with the face. Facial expressions used with animals are much more relaxed, more comfortable, and clearly indicate intimate dialogue. That intimacy makes touching , petting, and talking to a dog feel goo: it relieves tension and makes you feel more comfortable and appear more comfortable, more relaxed, and more attractive to others.

This intimate dialogue is in many ways similar to the touch-talk intimacy people have with each other, especially children. When you comfort a crying child, you just hug and stroke and say very little, perhaps repeating a word or two, such as "there, there" or "all right" or "okay." When the pain is deep or the child is little, you ask no questions; you just comfort. With a very little child who is sick and restless, you may sing or hum, rocking his body against yours. Words are unnecessary; each is content with what the other is doing. Between people in love, there are times when comfort means simply holding each other and saying nothing. If one person talks, it is often without looking at each other, and the stroking goes on beyond the awareness of either.

It is not surprising that animals may have a therapeutic role for people. Patients who are unwilling to apprach or talk to a therapist are able to reach out to an animal. After playing with, touching, and talking to the animal, they begin to talk to humans again. The presence of the animal makes talk safe, whether that talk is directed toward the animal or toward another person. In very diverse circumstances--with patients in a nursing home, with autistic children who have never spoken, and with disturbed children who do not talk at school--the presence of an animal has drawn speech from the mute. Not only is it safe to talk to animals, but for some it is exceedingly important because only through feeling intimate with an animal can they feel safe enough to reach out to another human being. At all ages, caring for an animal is a focus of nurturing and a source of comfort.

"A small pet animal is often an excellent companion for the sick..." - Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)

Long before there was any evidence that animal contact enhanced physical and mental health, animals were being used in therapeutic settings. From the very beginning, animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has paralleled the use of animals as pets and many of the therapeutic uses are extensions of the health benefits now recognized for those who own or interact with companion animals. Much of the early literature documents nothing more than fortuitous interactions with animals what happen to be present in a therapeutic setting. The animals were to provide a diversion or the joys traditionally associated with pet care. These expectations may be correct, as often the best "medicines" are appropriate concentrations of what is generally beneficial.

Laughter and feelings of joy are therapeutic events and are often facilitated by the touch and talking to animals and even their antics.

Historically, the first AAT programs were hospital setting for adults, but now programs are common for people of all ages. The first recorded use of animals in a therapeutic setting was in 1792, when William Tuke used farm animals in his York Retreat, an asylum run by the Society of Friends, a Quaker group. In 1867, pets were part of the treament for epileptics at Bethel, in Bielfeld, West Germany. The first well-documented use of animals in the United States involved the rehabilitation of airmen at the Army Air Force Convalescent Center in Pawling, New York, from 1944 to 1945. Sponsored by the American Red Cross, the program used dogs, horses, and farm animals as a diversion from the intense therapeutic programs the airment underwent. Few records were kept of these and other programs. Today, better records, and photography document the impact of animals in therapeutic settings. A constant in the photographs of animals in such settings is the sheer joy and even laughter seen in the humans involved. Laughter and feelings of joy are therapeutic events and are often facilitated by the touch and talking to animals and even their antics.

Those who care about people often also care about our companion animals. Now there are studies looking at behavior ad physiological indicators of relaxation in the animlas as they interact with people. It is known that most domestic animals actively try to be with people, presumably for the same reasons humans want to be with them--the comfort of the family, group, or pack. In good AAT programs, all benefit.

In sum, we should remember that it is well documented that people denied good human contact and interaction do not thrive. One way people can be protected from the ravages of loneliness is animal companionship. All indications are that companion animals play the role of a family member, often, a member with the most desired attributes. Ordinary interactions with animals can reduce blood pressure and alter survival after a heart attack. Pets, for some, afford increased opportunities to meet people, while for others, pets permit people to be alone without being lonely.


Alan M. Beck holds a doctor of science degree from The Johns Hopkins University. He is the Director for the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University's School of Veterinary Medicine and co-author of Between Pets and People: The Importance of Animal Companionship.

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