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Companion animal economics: the economic impact of companion animals in the UK. Research report
Abstract
The aim of this report is to raise awareness of the importance of research
concerning the economic impact of companion animals on society.
• This report was inspired by the seminal Council for Science and Society
(CSS) report Companion Animals in Society (1988), and updates and
extends its evaluation of the value that companion animals bring to
society.
• Data available from the UK are used as examples throughout, but many
of the points raised relate to industrialized nations globally.
• It highlights potential direct and indirect costs and benefits of companion
animals to the economy, and the value of exploring these further.
• There is currently a lack of high quality data for some aspects of this
evaluation which needs to be addressed to enable a more confident analysis;
however, given the scale of the potential impact (added economic
value and savings possible) the matter should not be ignored for this
reason.
• When evaluating the contribution of companion animals to the UK
economy both positive and negative aspects should be considered.
• Employing a conservative version of methods used in the best study of
its kind to date examining healthcare savings through reduced number
of doctor visits, we estimate that pet ownership in the UK may reduce use
of the National Health Service (NHS) to the value of £2.45 billion/year.
• The cost of NHS treatment for bites and strikes from dogs is estimated
as £3 million/year (i.e. approximately 0.1% of the health savings).
• We conclude that research into companion animals that relates to
their potential economic impact on society should be supported by
government.
... With an estimated global population of more than 470 million dogs kept in homes (Nestle Purina Petcare, 2019), this species plays important multifunctional roles in our society and have great social and economic value (Hall et al., 2016). They are popular family pets and companions, fulfil traditional working roles (e.g., protection, herding, assistance, search, and rescue) and, more recently, have been introduced into health care and educational settings to assist people with physical disabilities, learning difficulties and mental health issues (Fine, 2019). ...
... They are popular family pets and companions, fulfil traditional working roles (e.g., protection, herding, assistance, search, and rescue) and, more recently, have been introduced into health care and educational settings to assist people with physical disabilities, learning difficulties and mental health issues (Fine, 2019). Research has suggested that good human-dog interactions can provide a wide range of emotional, behavioural, cognitive, educational, and social benefits to humans (Hall et al., 2016). For instance, the interactions could offer social support, reduce our psychological distress (e.g., anxiety, depression) and physiological stress responses, promote daily physical activities and mental well-being in communities (e.g., via reduction in social isolation and loneliness) (Friedmann et al., 2011;Gee et al., 2017). ...
... Dogs and cats may provide a wide range of health, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, educational, and social benefits to humans, and support economic growth [1][2][3]. To maximize these animals' social and economic value, we need to understand and interpret their emotions appropriately so that high-quality human-animal interaction and animal welfare can be achieved. ...
... The three objectives of this exploratory study were to (1) directly compare dog and cat owners' beliefs about the number of emotions their pets could express, (2) evaluate what behavioral changes were associated with each emotional expression by owners, and (3) analyze the influence of various owner and pet-related factors on the owners' belief. Regarding the 1st objective, our analysis revealed that pet owners only reported more anger in cats than in dogs and a more frequent expression of two other primary and eight secondary emotions in dogs (Figure 1). ...
The correct interpretation of an animal’s emotional state is crucial for successful human–animal interaction. When studying dog and cat emotional expressions, a key source of information is the pet owner, given the extensive interactions they have had with their pets. In this online survey we asked 438 owners whether their dogs and/or cats could express 22 different primary and secondary emotions, and to indicate the behavioral cues they relied upon to identify those expressed emotions. Overall, more emotions were reported in dogs compared to cats, both from owners that owned just one species and those that owned both. Although owners reported a comparable set of sources of behavioral cues (e.g., body posture, facial expression, and head posture) for dogs and cats in expressing the same emotion, distinct combinations tended to be associated with specific emotions in both cats and dogs. Furthermore, the number of emotions reported by dog owners was positively correlated with their personal experience with dogs but negatively correlated with their professional experience. The number of emotions reported in cats was higher in cat-only households compared to those that also owned dogs. These results provide a fertile ground for further empirical investigation of the emotional expressions of dogs and cats, aimed at validating specific emotions in these species.
... Dogs serve a variety of roles in society (as companion, working and therapy animals) of significant benefit to human physical and mental health and great social and economic value (Hall et al. 2016). There is growing evidence to support an association between aspects of dog ownership and a wide range of emotional, behavioural, cognitive, educational and social benefits (e.g. ...
... There is growing evidence to support an association between aspects of dog ownership and a wide range of emotional, behavioural, cognitive, educational and social benefits (e.g. increased social competence, social networks and social interaction) (Hall et al. 2016). The safeguarding of rewarding human-dog interaction requires timely and appropriate understanding of emotional expressions in both humans and dogs from each other's perspective. ...
Dogs have remarkable abilities to synergise their behaviour with that of people, but how dogs read facial and bodily emotional cues in comparison to humans remains unclear. Both species share the same ecological niche, are highly social and expressive, making them an ideal comparative model for intra- and inter-species emotion perception. We compared eye-tracking data from unrestrained humans and dogs when viewing dynamic and naturalistic emotional expressions in humans and dogs. Dogs attended more to the body than the head of human and dog figures, unlike humans who focused more on the head of both species. Dogs and humans also showed a clear age effect that reduced head gaze. Our results indicate a species-specific evolutionary adaptation for emotion perception, which is only partly modified for heterospecific cues. These results have important implications for managing the risk associated with human–dog interactions, where expressive and perceptual differences are crucial.
... However, based on the absolute numbers published yearly, without regard for the number in the population at risk, it has been inferred that dog related injuries, interpreted as dog bites, are rising in England 20 . One attempt has been made to estimate the direct health care costs of dog bites in England 21 . The authors used an unrepresentative sample population (the most and least deprived 10% of the population) from the above report 18 to estimate the total hospital admissions in 2013, an average cost of a non-elective inpatient stay was applied. ...
... However, they do suggest that the estimates calculated within this paper are reasonable and need exploring with a more robust methodology. Our direct health care costings are an improvement on previous research methodologies 21 . Further inspection of hospital records, at a national and individual trust level, is needed to understand how dog bite victims are managed elsewhere within the NHS systems. ...
Dog bites are a global health issue that can lead to severe health outcomes. This study aims to describe the incidence and sociodemographics of patients admitted to English National Health Service (NHS) hospitals for dog bites (1998–2018), and to estimate their annual direct health care costs. An analysis of patient level data utilising hospital episode statistics for NHS England, including: temporal trends in annual incidence of admission, Poisson models of the sociodemographic characteristics of admitted patients, and direct health care cost estimates. The incidence of dog bite admissions rose from 6.34 (95%CI 6.12–6.56) in 1998 to 14.99 (95%CI 14.67–15.31) admissions per 100,000 population in 2018, with large geographic variation. The increase was driven by a tripling of incidence in adults. Males had the highest rates of admission in childhood. Females had two peaks in admission, childhood and 35–64 years old. Two percent (2.05%, 95%CI 0.93–3.17) of emergency department attendances resulted in admission. Direct health care costs increased and peaked in the financial year 2017/2018 (admission costs: £25.1 million, emergency attendance costs: £45.7million). Dog bite related hospital admissions have increased solely in adults. Further work exploring human–dog interactions, stratified by demographic factors, is urgently needed to enable the development of appropriate risk reduction intervention strategies.
... Research from Germany and Australia indicates pet owners rely less on medication and make fewer visits to the doctor than non-pet owners (Headey et al 2002). It is estimated that the health benefits of pet ownership in the UK may save the National Health Service up to £2.45 billion a year (Hall et al 2017). ...
The covid-19 pandemic, and in particular, the rise in pet ownership, the greater focus on home-life during lockdowns and the normalisation of hybrid-working conditions post-pandemic, has shed light on an under-researched area of law that affects millions of people across the world: the use of ‘no pet’ covenants in private rental housing. This article identifies the prevalence of ‘no pet’ covenants as a socio-legal problem that is of global significance. It assesses the legal regulation of pets in private rental housing through a Harm Assessment approach that has global application. A Harm Assessment approach balances harms to various stakeholders in both the use and restriction of ‘no pet’ covenants. In countries that have no legal regulation of pets in housing it can be used to assess the need for legislation. This approach considers the character, magnitude and likelihood of the harm, something which has had little consideration to date. Drawing, by analogy, on the work of Feinberg and his analysis of harm within the context of the legitimacy of state interference with individual liberty, this article adapts his theory of harm to assess the need for legal regulation of pets in rental housing. The legitimacy of a Harm Assessment approach is supported by the existing literature on ‘no pet’ covenants, from which the dominant theme of harm emerges. Identifying and weighting the types of harm to be balanced varies depending on cultural, religious and geographic considerations and further research is needed to better understand the harms in different countries.
... This, coupled with the need to operate within a framework of rapid exchanges to prevent harm to either or both parties (Mills and Westgarth 2017), would favour the development of these abilities within both visual and acoustic sensory channels. The extraordinary proficiency of dogs in being able to read emotion cues in humans, might then be a key feature in their successful domestication and subsequent ubiquity in society in roles such as a companion, assistance and therapy animal as evidenced by their economic significance (Hall et al. 2016). ...
Comparative studies of human–dog cognition have grown exponentially since the 2000’s, but the focus on how dogs look at us (as well as other dogs) as social partners is a more recent phenomenon despite its importance to human–dog interactions. Here, we briefly summarise the current state of research in visual perception of emotion cues in dogs and why this area is important; we then critically review its most commonly used methods, by discussing conceptual and methodological challenges and associated limitations in depth; finally, we suggest some possible solutions and recommend best practice for future research. Typically, most studies in this field have concentrated on facial emotional cues, with full body information rarely considered. There are many challenges in the way studies are conceptually designed (e.g., use of non-naturalistic stimuli) and the way researchers incorporate biases (e.g., anthropomorphism) into experimental designs, which may lead to problematic conclusions. However, technological and scientific advances offer the opportunity to gather much more valid, objective, and systematic data in this rapidly expanding field of study. Solving conceptual and methodological challenges in the field of emotion perception research in dogs will not only be beneficial in improving research in dog–human interactions, but also within the comparative psychology area, in which dogs are an important model species to study evolutionary processes.
... Despite the high financial costs of training and acquiring military, police, and assistance dogs [27], dogs perform many valuable tasks, contributing to the development and performance of multiple industries [7], and the benefits of assistance dogs are associated with significant economic savings in terms of reduced reliance on conventional support services [14,34]. Nonetheless, it is reported that only 50 % of working canines are fully functioning on average in different industries [2,3,5,25]. ...
Dogs exhibit behavioural heterogeneity as a result of their close proximity to people as pets, working animals, or research animals. This variability stems from their natural talents as well as contextual effects. This document examines the several types of dog behavioural tests, including those that are used to evaluate dogs and others that are used to categorize individual animals. This study revealed a lack of agreement on all of these testing procedures. Individual variations in behaviour, or personality differences, may now be quantified and described in the working dog literature. The predictive association between certain dog behavioural features (if any) and crucial working results is less well-known.
... If certain animal species are kept under less optimum conditions, they can pose a physical danger to the people around them [14]. The economic burden on the pet's owners, owing to special foods and veterinary care [16]. Furthermore, the possible negative psychological impact of losing a pet [17]. ...
Besides being funny and giving a sense of companionship, owning a pet in your household could have some magical influences on its owners' health. A pet will help to reduce anxiety levels, improving physical activity persistence, and enhance social interaction. Owing a Pet had its influence on physical and mental health, as previous studies showed its contribution to modulating mental illness, reducing cardiovascular problems, improving the outcomes of many mental diseases such as depression, and being a helpful therapy for parkinsonian patients. Declaring the benefits of pet ownership and discussing its effects on various health aspects allows more enlightening of pets' role in boosting our mental and physical health. Several studies have been conducted to test those findings and provide scientific evidence. In this review, we aimed at exploring and discussing some of the benefits obtained by pet ownership and the roles that pets could play in enhancing physical and mental well-being.
Dog bite injuries are a significant public health problem and many are sustained by children. These injuries can be complex, both physically and psychologically, and in rare cases fatal. This paper will review current evidence-based approaches to treatment, explore identified patterns in biting incidents and discuss the effectiveness of prevention strategies. Safe management of these patients requires a comprehensive approach. Physical injuries need to be accurately assessed with a high index of suspicion for underlying injuries, particularly in younger children less able to communicate. Treatment depends on severity and location, but all bites must be irrigated to reduce the risk of infection but may not always require prophylactic antibiotic use. Careful exploration of the circumstances in which the bite occurred is essential to make safeguarding decisions and prevent future bites. Reducing the incidence of paediatric dog bites requires education of both children and parents that any dog can bite, regardless of breed, and all child–dog interactions must be highly supervised. However, education alone is unlikely to prevent dog bites. Policies that support environmental changes need to be developed such as provision of pet dogs less likely to bite (or bite as severely), through breeding for temperament and appropriate socialisation. Additionally, investment in psychological support for bite victims and their families is required to reduce the long-term impacts of being bitten.
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