Minisode: National Pet Adoption Week (3/24/25-3/30/25)
National Pet Adoption Week celebrates the loving and ultimately health-improving creatures we call our pets. Whether your taste in pets ranges from 8 legs with too many eyes to no legs with scales or four furry legs to two feathered wings, you have seen the powerful impact pets can have on a person’s life. In this minisode, I mention the positive impact fur babies have had on my mental and physical health. What I failed to mention through my allergy fog was that research has shown that just patting a pet can reduce blood pressure. ^ Pets reduce loneliness, which is critically linked to mental health.^ I have been fortunate enough to work at two different universities where the positive impact pets (specifically dogs) have on mental health was not only respected but embraced. The first of these two would bring puppies in for cuddling and play therapy during finals week at the end of every semester. The second university had a program employees could apply for that would allow their dog to come on campus to the employee’s office as frequently as desired if they also agreed to bring their approved pet to a certain number of university events a year for anyone to pet.
I have stopped having night terrors and sleep paralysis episodes thanks to my furry four-legged companions!
Cited information
^ https://dspace.vnmu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/5601
Additional Resources:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13607863.2019.1633620
https://www.tulsaspca.org/
https://www.hhhstopeka.org/adopt/top-10-reasons-to-adopt-from-an-animal-shelter/
https://bestfriends.org/pet-care-resources/top-reasons-adopt-pet-rather-buy