Pets and Service Dogs: Help, Healing, and Hard Truths

As a person who has only ever owned a goldfish for two weeks, I was never privy to the long-term psychological benefits of animals. In reality, pets offer more to us than just companionship, protection, and guidance. There has been an emphasis on mental health and learning to meet our own needs in recent years, and pets and service dogs are great examples of the therapeutic and health benefits of animals.

Psychological, Physiological Benefits of Animal Companions

Pets are highly recommended for mental health and general well-being. General interaction with animals has been known to reduce blood pressure and stress levels. Owning a pet can contribute even more by combating loneliness, reducing cognitive deterioration, improving physical conditions, and helping avoid dementia. Dogs, in particular, have even been known to increase concentration in children with ADHD.

Service dog in vest working for Wounded Warrior Project sniffs person at pool's edge

Animals With Jobs: Supporting and Protecting Their People

One category of “super pets” with the most obvious human benefit is service animals. Service animals are specially trained to perform various tasks to aid people with disabilities and can be a life-changing acquisition. People with service dogs demonstrated a substantial improvement in social, emotional, professional, and educational functioning. On the physical side, service animals can support their handlers as vision and hearing aids or by detecting allergens or spikes and drops in blood sugar.

Recognizing service animals’ contributions, all the members of the European Union signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which enshrines the right to a service animal. Austria, the frontliner, has a federal law that identifies and qualifies assistance dogs, establishes training and examination standards, and employs official registration with ID cards and QR tags. In the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act also ensures society is accessible for those with service animals, yet it does not require service dogs to be certified, trained, or identifiable with special gear or documentation. This removes a barrier to access.

Accommodations for Some Can Unfortunately Exclude Others

Although these are clear benefits of animal ownership, it would only be right to also disclose some downsides. As useful as they might be, animals can be unpleasant or even deadly for people with allergies. Their saliva and fur can trigger a range of symptoms, including rashes, itchy eyes, and breathing difficulties such as asthma. Where is the line between one person owning a service dog to benefit their mental and physical health and another person’s mental and physical health being actively worsened by an animal?

Animals can also be a financial and emotional stressor. Many pet owners report underestimating the total cost of owning a pet. Service dogs alone can range from $15,000 to $30,000, depending on their training level, without even considering the cost of food, medical care, and insurance. This financial barrier can make service dogs inaccessible to people who genuinely need them but cannot afford to obtain one.

Owning a pet or service animal can certainly provide emotional and physical support and be a source of great joy. This is why it is so crucial that we find a way to equalise access to them. Disabled individuals should not be restricted from freely moving about in society. Likewise, people with allergies or phobias should be assured that it is safe for them to go about their everyday lives. Finding space through compromise for all members of our communities to thrive is something that everyone can agree to.