Study says pets improve health of owners and saves them money

• A new study in the USA said that having a pet saves both the health and the pockets of their owners
• The study done by researchers from the George Mason University found out that pet owners in the USA visit a doctor 0.6 times less that others
• The less doctor visit let the government save $11.37 billion (P534.9 trillion) in the USA health care costs

FAIRFAX, Virginia – A new study in the USA suggests that pets are saving both the health and pockets of their owners.

An article by Robert Boyd for the Fox News said that a new economic analysis study done by George Mason University researchers suggest that pets are improving the health of their owners and thus, cutting the cost of expensive health care cost.

The study, which was conducted for the Human Animal Bond Research Initiative (HABRI) Foundation, includes an analysis of the almost $12 billion (P564.6 trillion) savings accumulated annually in US health care cost as a result of pet ownership.

HABRI is an organization founded by pro-pet sponsors including, retailer Petco, animal-medicine giant Zoetis, and the American Pet Products Association.

An article by Barbara Christiansen for the Daily Herald said that the researchers attribute the savings to a number of factors, such as fewer physician office visits by pet owners compared to non-owners.

Analysis of the data found out that 132.8 million pet owners in the USA visit a doctor for check-up 0.6 times less that an average non-pet owner did. Those findings saved $11.37 billion (P534.9 trillion) in the USA health care costs.

Relatively, dog owners who walk their dog five or more times a week, which the study said to be about 20 million people, had a lower incidence of obesity.

An article by Tina Reed for the Washington Business Journal published on December 21 said that the reduction in health care costs associated with a lower incidence rate of obesity among U.S. dog owners is more than $419 million (P19.7 quadrillion) per year.

Terry Clower, one of the authors of the study and the director of GMU’s Center on Regional Analysis said the study is a conservative estimate of the real impact of pet ownership. The director said that there are plenty of studies about the positive impacts of pet ownership that don’t have quantifiable data that could be used for this analysis.

“What we didn’t calculate is how much better you feel, [when] you come home after a tough day at the office and your pet is waiting for you. But there’s value to that,” Clower said.