Benefits of Animal Companionship
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By: TX27
Added: 29-06-14
There is little doubt that the companionship of an animal provides many benefits to humans.
Research has been done by everyone from the Center for Disease Control to The Delta Society, who provides training and resources regarding therapy animals, the research provides ample support to these varied benefits. Animals have been used for centuries in various forms of therapy and increasing uses for improvements in peoples lives are being found daily.
Still in our post-industrial society, many obstacles stand in the way of potential pet owners. The many benefits companion animals can provide should be available to all who can use them.
According to the Center for Disease Control, health benefits provided from animal companionship include decreases in: stress, risk of heart disease, blood pressure, loneliness, cholesterol and obesity. Animals provide more of an opportunity or reason to go outside and be even moderately active.
Children raised with animals show more empathy and ability to care for others. Also, animals can provide valuable lessons in responsibility and life-cycles. For children and adults pets provide a sense of security. Through his research, Dr. Robert Poresky found children raised with animals show more empathy and ability to care for others than those who have not had animals in the home.
In our society children are often given so much that it becomes easy for them to be self-centered; having a pet helps the child gain an empathetic outlook. Animals can provide valuable lessons in responsibility for the children who take care of them. It can also teach children about life and death at a very early age.
Even with the undisputable benefits of animal companionship, many potential owners are finding it hard to obtain a pet.
Housing is a primary reason that people are not able to own a pet. This is easily seen on bulletin boards and classified advertisements where the primary reason for the surrender of pets is due to moving. Even more often you see "no pets" listed in advertisements for housing.
The few pet friendly options that you see are often in much more expensive complexes or areas. This is unfortunate as some of the health problems pets can help are much more prevalent in individuals with lower income, unable to afford adequate healthcare. Often landlords impose strict restrictions on what breed or size of animal is allowed.
It is not just renters that are having problems owning pets. Many people in condo or townhouse situations face similar problems. All homeowners face the possibility that a complaint will be made about even an occasional bark of a dog or cat running about resulting in fines or removal of the animal.
A few changes and additions to the Oregon tenant landlord law could clear up many of the myths that are more increasingly believed. Many states are promoting pet ownership in their tenant landlord laws. Unfortunately, Oregon is not one of those states.
The only place that pets are mentioned in the Oregon tenant landlord law is the section regarding reasons for eviction (ORS 90.405). It also leaves the definition of a pet capable of causing harm so vague it could include my hermit crab or box turtle. I could have more water damage come from spilling a vase of flowers than from a medium sized fish aquarium.
Yet getting a medium sized fish aquarium would be possible grounds for eviction. What classifies as medium sized? A beta tank less than two cups in volume could be defined as small so anything larger could be considered medium. Fish can be some of the easiest pets to care for and maintain so limiting this harmless option could be devastating to some individual's health.
For some emotionally fragile people watching fish in an aquarium can reduce stress in an extremely short amount of time thus improving their health.
Animals are increasingly being used in therapy situations. In the 1700's animal companions reduced the need for medication and restraints in mental institutions across Europe. Having visits from animals in hospitals and nursing homes provides a great stress relief and a happiness or comfort not always felt in such an environment.
There is increasing interest for animals to gain certification to become a therapy pet and welcome in these institutions.Service animals have had special privileges for years and it is only recently being seen that animals even without special training or specific tasks are able to aid all types of disabilities.
The social interactions that pets can initiate are a great help to people who might have trouble with social inclusion. A pet can be a conversation starter or create a common interest for someone who is mentally or socially disabled. Having a pet in one's life can help battle depression, anxiety or overcome chemical dependency.
The limited information regarding pets in the Oregon rental laws not only hurts prospective tenants but it fails to protect landlords or give them a sense of security. This may be one reason that property owners are less likely to allow pets or easily believe some of the many myths disseminating.
Oregon landlords often believe that they would not be able to recover damages that might be caused by a pet. If they were to charge a reasonable deposit for the pet and even an extra monthly fee any potential damages would practically be paid for in advance. Many states set amounts that can be charged for a pet deposit or additional pet rent.
These amounts are often equal up to two months rent for deposit and fifty to one hundred dollars extra rent per month. Although the landlord would not have to charge the maximum amount allowed it would be an option if there was a pet that might pose a risk to the rental.
This money would be more than enough to cover most common damages like carpets stained or screens torn. The states that are so helpful in facilitating animal companionship through their rental laws often provide a template for an additional pet contract separate from any rental or lease agreement.
These pet contracts are extremely helpful to the landlords because it gives them easy legal protection if there is damage caused by a pet. It also protects the pet owner by educating them in exactly what is expected of them and their companion animal. The owners would then know what they need to do in order to receive the deposit money back.
Even if the state does not provide a template for this many are available on the internet. Pet applications are another easy way for landlords to determine if they want to allow certain pets or not. These applications often look like resumes listing training completed, references from veterinarians and trainers and any other information a landlord might be interested in. They can also request a temperament screening.
This consists of someone, usually a trainer, observing the animal's behavior and even provoking or antagonizing it to see how it would react to different situations thus judging how suited to different types of living arrangements it might be. Often if an animal has been adopted or rescued from a shelter this test has already been performed and a copy can be provided video lucu banget bikin ngakak motor upon request.
One of the many myths that is strongly believed is that if a landlord allows one tenant pet privileges then they have to allow those privileges to everyone in order to be fair. The lack of information regarding pets in the Oregon law makes the truth, that landlords can allow pets based on any criteria they choose, clear.
They can choose to allow them only in certain dwellings or a set number per owner or complex. They can limit the breed or size or temperament and request additional references from trainers, veterinarians and previous landlords. They can also require that any dog goes through extensive training and receive certification attesting to the fact that they passed.
The landlord can simply decide on a case by case basis and does not have to give any reason for their decision. It is unfortunate that because many landlords are not aware of this option they instead say no to everyone.
It can be understood why landlords worry about losing money because of pets but it would be easy for them to protect their interest while promoting health in their rental properties. By charging fees and deposits they can compensate for any potential damage. This may seem like another barrier to potential pet owners but it is easy to overcome by utilizing many resources available.
There are many organizations that help people with pet deposits if it would clearly benefit them to have the animal companion. There are some organizations that offer loans for this purpose for example the Stanford Federal Credit Union who supports students moving off-campus in order to keep their pets.
Many local trainers, veterinarians and humane societies have these references available. There are lots of volunteers willing to help a pet get training or certification to be able to pass the application process.
With a few small changes to the law and education of the public, animals could be much more accessible. There is no reason why more people should not have the opportunity to benefit from owning a pet. We see such high costs for health care for uninsured and underinsured people but we could take the opportunity to eliminate some of these health problems in another much less expensive way, by making pet ownership more easily accessible.
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