Where pet-friendliness lags

According to one study, pet owners make 15 per cent fewer visits to a doctor compared with non-pet owners. And among older people, especially, pet ownership also reduces feelings of loneliness and promotes independence.

With this in mind, Animal Welfare League Australia has released a report, Pets in Aged Care Snapshot, compiled with the help of The Stafford Group. The snapshot reviews pet-friendliness among residential and in-home care providers.

Eighteen per cent of Australian residential care facilities will definitely consider requests for residents to keep a pet, but Victoria (which has 1353 aged care facilities), together  with NSW,  has the lowest figure, at 14 per cent each.

Across the country, 22 per cent of care facilities allow family and friends to bring pets when they visit; the Victorian figure stands at 19 per cent.

Nationally, a third of facilities have shared pets and nearly a quarter offer a visiting pets program. The Victorian figures are 37 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.

Only 7 per cent of in-home care services in Victoria include pet care specifically as part of a package. 

In at least half of residential care facilities across all states, it remained unclear whether pet-keeping would be considered. In Victoria this figure was the highest of all, at 81 per cent.

Animal Welfare League Australia advocates for aged care services and policies that keep older people and their pets together for as long as it provides the best health results for both animal and owner.

It says more pet-friendly aged care services are needed. As well as the health and social benefits, keeping older people together with their pets reduces animal surrender rates to shelters.

The group’s data suggests 7 per cent of pet surrenders to shelters are directly related to the owner going into aged care.

Pet-keeping  also increases the take-up of aged care services because some older people will not move into residential care if they can’t take pets with them.

Details – awla.org.au