Pros And Cons Of Owning A Household Pet

Over the years, humans have undergone various changes. However, our evolution did not just affect us physically and psychologically, but it also affected social aspect of our lives. More specifically, our relationships with animals. The first humans perceived animals as food rather than companions and hunted animals in order to survive the extreme conditions they were under. But as time went by, several factors had emerged which caused these perceptions to change and our ancestors were presented the choice of companionship among animals for the very first time. In our present society, people acquire pets to live with them for various reasons. These are called “household pets” and it ranges from dogs, cats, and hamsters to even snakes and much more. However, owning a household pet has its fair share of positive and negative side effects such as the physical and emotional benefits from human-pet interactions possible transmittable health risks and the possible transmittable health risks which can be life threatening.

Studies have proven that interactions between humans and dogs physically benefit both parties. Most dog owners walk their pet every morning and as a result, both the pet and the owner get to exercise their body. According to a study conducted by Shiloh, Sorek and Terkel in 2003, it has been observed that the owner’s blood pressure levels and/or heart rate are reduced when petting an animal. A case wherein the animal benefits from the human can be seen in a study conducted by Righetti & Thomson in 2005. In this study, the researchers concluded that the heart rate of animals is lowered when the owners of these pets stroke them. However, there are instances where humans gain benefits just by being around pets. An experiment conducted by Katcher et al. in 1983 tested the effects of watching an aquarium full of fish and an empty one on the blood pressure of the person. They had found out that blood pressure were reduced when the person watched the aquarium with the fishes compared to the aquarium without fishes. In a similar fashion, Friedmann and his group in 1983 tested the effects of dogs being around children while the children read. The group concluded that the dog’s presence helped lower the children’s blood pressure.

Another experiment conducted by Allen, Blascovich and Mendez in 2002 displayed similar results as they reported that blood pressure and heart rate when one is around pets are similar to when you are with friends or your spouse. Physical benefits aren’t the only effects that pets give, they also reduce the risk of experiencing illnesses. Serpell stated that owners of household pets had less minor injuries than non-pet owners. To elaborate even further, pet owners experienced less dizziness, colds, headaches and the like after acquiring their pet. Anderson and company also stated that coronary heart disease was less likely to be experienced by pet owners. Dembicki and Anderson’s study also revealed that elderly pet owners had less chance of experiencing heart attacks compared to non-pet owners. It has been indicated by Wells in her study that dogs have the ability to detect possible diseases present in the owner through sniffing. Specifically, dogs are able to sniff potential cases of seizure, hypoglycemia and cancer in people. Due to this phenomenon, the possibility of training dogs to be used as diagnosis for some diseases as a substitute for expensive methods are open and welcomed.

Humans also gain social advantages from their pets as it attracts attention from people. It has been shown in a study performed by Wells in 2004 that the owner faces more social interaction when they’re with their dog. Owning a dog gives the owner a topic to talk about with complete strangers and it smoothens the conversation. Another example of this can be seen in Kortschal and Ortbauer’s study where students had focused more in class around the presence of a dog. Dogs are used to aid several communities. One of which are nursing homes wherein they serve as companions for the elderly. According to Crowley-Robinson and company, the level of depression in the elderly decreased when they were accompanied by a dog. Another community which uses dogs is the hospital. They are called “PAT”, short for pets as therapy, and they serve patients with long-term stays. Mental institutions have also obtained this practice under a different name, “PFP”, short for Pet Facilitated Psychotherapy. The patients trusted the psychiatrist and responded more to therapy when they had developed a relationship with the dog. Some prisons have also taken this practice into account and implemented programs involving animals. The program proved to be effective because it lessened the amount of substance use and suicide throughout the prisoners, it improved prisoners’ overall behaviour and relationship with the employees.

Dogs have also been used to support PWD residents. 4000 trained dogs are currently working in the UK to help PWD residents. People in wheelchairs gain significant benefits when they have a pet. It can open doors for them, pick up stuff from the ground and can be trained to even press buttons for the lift elevator. Pets are also used to aid the blind people and serve as sound receptors. They alert their owner if the environment is hazardous or safe to interact with. However, owning a household pet also comes with risks. The article written by Damporg, et al. , mentions numerous diseases and infections that is associated to interacting with household pets. This article includes the disease’s form of transmission, the harmful effects that come with it and ways of prevention. The diseases stated in this article are dog bites, cat scratches, Psittacosis, Leptospirosis, Campylobacteriosis, Salmonellosis and Antimicrobial Resistance. Added to this, ownership of dogs may lead to allergies and phobias may be developed.

Rabies are also prevalent in both humans and animals. In a journal article regarding the origin of the rabies virus, Bourhy and company indicated that, “Rabies is a progressively fatal and incurable viral encephalitis caused by a lyssavirus infection. Almost all of 55 000 annual rabies deaths in humans result from infection with dog rabies viruses (RABV)”. The National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians Inc. (NASPHV) explicitly states that the rabies virus can be obtained through bite wounds, exposed skin cuts or through any other infectious material. Symptoms include irritability, excessive movements, abnormal postures, hallucinations, sensitivity to bright lights, muscle spasms, seizures, weakness or paralysis, aggressiveness, sounds or touch. Rabies affects the nervous system more specifically the brain and spinal cord. Some of the physical effects are anxiety, confusion, excess production of saliva, hydrophobia, etc. Wisconsin stated that Human Rabies is fatal but can be easily prevented through several medical practices such as getting the wound medically cleaned up and getting it vaccinated as soon as possible to avoid further damage. It is eloquently stated in the journal article written by Abrahamian and Aoldstein that there were times where infected dogs transmitted “Blastomyces Dermatitidis” onto humans through bites or through an infectious medium which resulted in Blastomycosis. Symptoms of this disease are fever, cough, muscle pain, shortness of breath and such. According to the Department of Health of America (DHA), Blastomycosis is a fungal infection. While there no known medical treatment to prevent Blastomycosis, this can be treated by taking anti-fungal infections.

Another negative side effect of owning pets is the costs that come with it. Pets need to be fed and given water every single day. They also produce feces which can infect humans and pee pretty daily. Pets can also be noisy and can disturb the people around you. They also require love and attention every day from their owner which can be burdening especially if the owner has a busy job.

To summarize this paper, ownership of a household pet provides the owner with positive and negative effects. Some of the positive effects include physical benefits such as decreases in blood pressure and heart rate from physical contacts and presence of animals. It also helps the social side of the owner through the dog’s garnering of attention from other people which can be used by the person to start conversations and make friends. Pets also benefit from humans because their heart rate is slowed down and it gives them a sense of calmness. Pets are also used in institutions to aid people such as the hospital, nursing home, and prisons. The negative effects are getting bitten by the pet and resulting in diseases, and developing allergies and phobias.

As a conclusion, I recommend that people still acquire pets because I believe that the pros outweigh and cons and the cons can be easily avoided or solved. Sure you may get bitten by pets but how often do you see a pet-owner discard their pet just because they’ve been bitten by it? If ever diseases are developed, medication can be used to treat these. Pets can be trained to properly dispose their feces and pee in the right place.