Healthy Paws Foundation Joins Forces with the Human Animal Bond Research Institute

The Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) today announced a new grant for research to examine the effects of therapy dog interactions on heart and brain activity. This grant was awarded to a team of researchers at the University of Wollongong, led by Jillian Teo, PhD Candidate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Wollongong along with Professor Stuart Johnstone at the School of Psychology and Professor Susan Thomas at the Graduate School of Medicine. This study will investigate the changes in heart and brain activity occurring in university students during interactions with therapy dogs and aims to better understand the mechanisms behind the benefits of human-dog interactions on human health and wellbeing. In addition to measurements of heart and brain activity, researchers will also collect self-report measures of emotional states and psychological distress from students. The study hypothesizes that therapy dog interactions will lead to greater relaxation compared to standard relaxation methods which could potentially inform future interventions and policies to optimize student health. “Our preliminary study indicates that therapy dogs can favorably influence multiple human health-related pathways, including the autonomic and central nervous systems, likely through reductions in stress and increases in relaxation,” said Jillian Teo, the Principal Investigator for this project. “This new study will yield insights into the mechanisms underlying these benefits for human health and facilitate the development of evidence-based practices to optimize future animal-assisted interventions for improved health and wellbeing.” This study will adopt a repeated measures design to examine psychophysiological outcomes from 100 university students, combining subjective self-report measures with objective physiological measurements including heart rate, heart rate variability, and an electroencephalogram (EEG). The study will further add to the existing literature...

The Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) and EveryCat Health Foundation today announced the results of a new study published in the open-access Journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science, “Exploratory Study of Fecal Cortisol, Weight, and Behavior as Measures of Stress and Welfare in Shelter Cats During Assimilation Into Families of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder”, providing preliminary evidence that temperament screened shelter cats adopted by families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) did not experience a significant increase in stress after adoption by their new families. “Benefits of companion animals in homes of families of children with autism have been identified, but little is known about the welfare of pets in these homes,” said Dr. Gretchen Carlisle, Research Scientist at the University of Missouri and Principal Investigator. “These results provide a starting point for future research exploring cat welfare, while also identifying a set of steps families can take to effectively mitigate stress in their new feline family members.” “HABRI is particularly proud to have supported the Feline Friends study, which has already demonstrated that temperament screened shelter cats can help families of children with ASD,” said Steven Feldman, President of HABRI. “Results from this new publication focused on cat welfare are important to ensuring successful, long-lasting human-animal bonds.” “We know how meaningful companion animals are to those with ASD and are honored to have supported this groundbreaking research showing that cats can safely and healthily fill this role is truly a win for the cats and their people,” expressed Jackie Ott Jaakola, Executive Director of EveryCat Health Foundation. This exploratory study measured stress in temperament screened shelter cats adopted by families of children with ASD by using fecal cortisol, weight and a behavior stress measure. Findings suggest that the cats in the study acclimated...

The PAWS Act Coalition, a group of nonprofit and for-profit organizations committed to protecting survivors of domestic violence and their pets, is thrilled to share the recent announcement of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) Emergency and Transitional Pet Shelter and Housing Assistance Grant Program. The $3 million appropriated for 2022 represents the fully-authorized amount under the Pet and Women Safety (PAWS) Act, a $500,000 increase in funding from 2021. “The increase in funding for this grant program is a direct reflection of the need for more pet-friendly options for domestic violence survivors,” said Nina Leigh Krueger, CEO and President of Nestlé Purina PetCare. “Purina is proud to see and support continued momentum to ensure more survivors and their pets enter safe shelter and begin the healing process together.” “The PAWS Act Coalition looks forward to working with the Department of Justice to raise awareness of the $3 million available to aid survivors of domestic violence and their pets,” said Steven Feldman, President of the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI). “We are proud to help spread to word about the opening of the 2022 grant applications, and to encourage eligible organizations across the country to apply.” FY 2022 grants will provide funding for shelter and transitional housing and other assistance for survivors of domestic violence with pets, service animals, emotional support animals, or horses. Grants awarded may also be used for programs that provide support services designed to enable someone fleeing an abuser to locate and secure housing with their pet, safe accommodations for their pet, or related services such as transportation and other assistance. The OVC can fund five grants of up to a maximum of $400,000 each and 15 grants of up to $100,000 each. The grants will be for a 36-month period of performance, to begin on October 1, 2022. Smaller awards are...