Benefits of having pets

From a very young age I knew that I wanted to have a pet, unfortunately the constant moves did not allow it, but I always carried that wish with me and one day it came true, in the least expected way and place.

Everything changed when I was finishing my university studies, I was doing my professional practices in Costa Rica, I had been there for about three weeks. I was looking for a house and in the garden of one of those houses I met Kira, a dog that had given birth to 8 puppies. She gave me so much tenderness and sorrow at the same time. I knew I couldn't take them, and was only there temporarily, but my boyfriend made a solo decision to adopt the youngest, he named her Luna, a mixed breed dog, and told me she would stay with us.

I was so scared to make that decision because I knew that if I accepted it, she would become part of my family and I wouldn't be able to get her out of it and that's how Luna got here. She was born in Playa Brasilito in Costa Rica, she lived there until she was 10 months old, then she went to Peru where she spent 8 months and for things in life she came to Europe, specifically to Germany, where she has become a citizen of this country.

Many people are surprised to hear Luna's story, everything she has traveled and what she still has to live. In almost three years of her life.

Only people who have pets know that nothing compares to the joy of coming home and finding a loyal companion. The unconditional love of a pet can provide more than companionship. Pets can also reduce stress, improve heart health, and even help children with their emotional and social skills.

The presence of pets in our environment has proven to be a source of social capital, understanding it as the factor that allows people to remain linked to their community in a beneficial and positive way and with a prosocial attitude.  A city with high levels of social capital has civic and collaborative citizens.

It has been discovered through different studies that in neighborhoods with a higher density of pets, lower crime rates and better indicators of people's health are recorded. Companion animals encourage social interaction and provide certain advantages, despite the fact that they also generate some conflicts.

For this reason, regulations are required that regulate and favor the circulation and care of pets, since responsible ownership favors this social capital and avoids coexistence conflicts.

The positive effects of sharing life with pets are divided into two types: physical and psychosocial. In the physical realm, contact with a pet lowers blood pressure, for example. In the area of psychosocial benefits, science shows that animals are social catalysts, that is, they help us to socialize and establish bonds with other people. The fact that the animal is part of our social network helps to allow us to overcome stress-generating conditions. Contact with animals reduces fears, symptoms of depression and levels of aggressiveness, and also promotes communication, positive moods, prosocial actions and positive attention to other people.

Beyond a responsibility, which is also a responsibility, having a pet can become an ally to improve our state of health and to increase our well-being.

When you adopt or buy a pet, remember that it will become your family, like Luna did, you will have to identify it, feed it, bathe it, teach it manners, give it love, take it to the vet when it needs it, take it for walks and much more.

If you don't have time or you think you can abandon it because you change country, job or any other excuse. Remember Luna, to take her with me, and I will continue to take her with me as many times as she needs, because she is my family.

References:

El poder de las mascotas: Beneficios para la salud por interacciones entre humanos y animals | Los Institutos Nacionales de Salud (nih.gov)

Antrozoología, el vínculo entre humanos y animales | Fundación Affinity (fundacion-affinity.org)

Efectos negativos y positivos para los animales de la fragmentación de los hábitats — Animal Ethics (animal-ethics.org)

¿Conoces los efectos positivos de tener una mascota? - Sevilla - COPE

Benefits of Having a Dog: 10 Amazing Advantages - Tractive Blog

The Health and Mood-Boosting Benefits of Pets - HelpGuide.org

6 Benefits of having a dog at home (vetwork.co)

Unexpected Benefits of Having a Dog | Purina