Re: Everybody loves therapy animals. But there’s no proof they help, July 8

Everybody loves therapy animals. But there’s no proof they help, July 8

This article missed a very important point. It says the benefits of these relationships are “murky, conflicting and frequently misinterpreted.” That’s because money is not being invested into extensive testing.

Why no money? Because there is very little money to be made out of proving how beneficial animals are for humans.

Pharmaceutical companies pay for testing of new drugs — every one of which will make a lot of money for these companies. And every drug that comes out of these tests proven to have some positive effect on human beings has many side effects. If thorough testing were to be done on the benefits of animals for humans, the most significant finding would be that there are no negative side effects to animals helping humans deal with life.

I could give many examples of how animals help humans in very real ways, but here is a small example from my own experience. I have blood pressure problems.

My doctor tried a number of drugs and none of them were really helping. So he told me to get a dog. I asked why, and he said he often prescribed pets for his blood pressure patients. He said I would see how my blood pressure levelled out if I got a dog. He knew I have had a lot of experience with dogs, but I felt my circumstances as a senior did not make it possible to have a dog in my life.

Within three months of getting a dog, my blood pressure did level out, with the help of a very mild blood pressure medication.

I asked my doctor how pets affected humans this way. I asked if it was because of the unconditional love a pet gives us. He said he believed the real healing was a result not of how the dog felt about me, but because of the real love I felt for the dog.

Cathy Watson-White, Toronto