The Impact of Pets on Our Fitness, Health and Happiness
Woof! Miaow! Squeak! Gillian Russell explores how much of an impact pets can have on our fitness, our health and our happiness. Gillian goes out walking with Margaret Ross and her dog Harry to find out how much he contributes to her health and happiness ... and about the work Harry does as a therapy pet. Matt Robinson from Pets As Therapy describes the difference the animals can make to the lives of the people they visit in hospitals, care homes and schools. Staff and pupils at Crown Primary in Inverness explain how the Read2Dogs scheme works and the impact it's having on reading time. Dr Carri Westgarth, Research Fellow from the University of Liverpool, talks about the research she's doing into the social, physical and mental health benefits of dog ownership. Louise Russell explains why she set up Give A Dog A Bone, a charity which aims to tackle loneliness in older people and the rising number of animals in shelters by bringing the two together. Moira Clark, who got her dog Leo through the scheme, describes the impact having him has had on both her physical and mental health.