The bond between people and pets can be especially powerful during life’s toughest moments. SHARE Community recently explored the deep connection many unhoused individuals share with their animals, featuring insight from Joybound on how pets provide companionship, stability, and unconditional love when it’s needed most. Read the article below to learn more about the life-changing impact of the human-animal bond.
More Than a Pet: The Profound Bond Between Unhoused Folks and Their Animals
By Ricka Davis-Sheard
When you pass someone on the street and notice a dog curled at their feet or a cat nestled in their jacket, it might be easy to wonder how they manage. What you might not see is what that animal is doing for that person in ways that no shelter bed or hot meal can replicate.
Researchers have spent years studying the relationship between unhoused individuals and their pets, and the findings are as clear as they are moving. Across 15 separate studies, individuals who are unhoused who own pets reported fewer symptoms of depression, reduced feelings of loneliness, lower stress levels, greater feelings of happiness, and decreased thoughts of suicide compared to those without animal companions.
Read that again. Fewer thoughts of suicide. A dog or a cat can mean the difference between a person giving up and a person holding on… (Read more)
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