Published: 12:09PM Wednesday October 20, 2010
Source: ONE News
An American professor believes more and more people are using pets for social support.
There has been a sizeable increase in pet ownership in New Zealand over the past few decades and James Serpell from the University of Pennsylvania said there are now about twice as many dogs and cats per person as there were 20-30 years ago.
Serpell told Breakfast this morning that urbanisation has led to the increase as people move into the city and animals "become less the workhorse and more the family pet".
He said other factors include couples having fewer children, more people living alone, higher divorce rates and more transient friendships.
And Serpell said people's health depends very much on the social support they have from others. He said people look to friends and relatives to support and care about them in times of need.
"People are inviting pets into their homes to replace what they're missing in terms of more traditional kinds of social support," Serpell said.
"As we progressively urbanise so our need for pets increases."
Read http://www.thornapplemanor.com/residents/neighborhoods.htm
"The three plagues of loneliness, helplessness, and boredom account for the bulk of suffering among our elders"
