from their site:
The Pets for the Elderly Foundation helps pay the fees to participating animal shelters throughout the United States for senior citizens (age 60 and over) who adopt a companion dog or cat from a participating shelter — including pre-adoption veterinary exams and spay/neuter, if part of the adoption fee.
Last year, the Pets for the Elderly Foundation assisted with the adoption of over 6,500 companion animals. Presently, 58 shelters in 30 states are participating in our program. Many more would like to participate, if funds were available.
The most serious disease for older persons is not cancer or heart disease - it's loneliness. Pets offer affection, unconditional love, fight loneliness, and can help ease the loss of a loved one.
Via their Research section:
Many elderly people have discovered that pets satisfy their greatest needs, and trigger a reversal of many negative self-images. According to Dr. Leo Bustad, “Pets restore order to their basic lives, provide a more secure grasp of reality, and link their owners to a community of caring, concern, sacrifice, and intense emotional relationships.”
Pets have been found to decrease loneliness in the elderly, give a person something to care for, something to watch and perhaps play with, something that provides a sense of security, something that stimulates some degree of exercise…above all, something that necessitates maintaining some kind of daily routine.
Pets ease the advent of old age by diverting an older person's attention away from himself and onto the playful antics of a dog or cat. The aches and pains are momentarily forgotten. Pets are a source of ongoing life…they serve as a much needed connection to youth…a pet is the greatest ego booster in the world — they think you're the greatest!
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