In the absence of human-to-human contact, in millions of households worldwide amid the Covid-19 pandemic, animals or pets have provided much-needed comfort via cuddles, pats and a constant physical presence, state researchers.
According to a study, published in the Journal of Behavioural Economics for Policy (JBEP) described how domesticated pets have a significant role to play in an era where human-human contact can be life endangering.
According to the researchers, physical touch is a sense that has been taken for granted - even overlooked - until Covid-19 visited our door earlier this year.
The study author Janette Young from the University of South Australia,
"To fill the void of loneliness and provide a buffer against stress, there has been a global upsurge in people adopting dogs and cats from animal shelters during lockdowns.”
"Breeders have also been inundated, with demands for puppies quadrupling some waiting lists," Young added.
Spending on pets was already hitting record levels, topping $13 billion in Australia and the region of US $260 billion globally in 2020, but this is bound to be surpassed.
More than half the population across the universe share their lives with one or more pets.
Reports have supported the health benefits of having pets, but there are little data that can specifically mention the advantages pets bring to humans in terms of touch.
Young said, "Pets seem to be particularly important when people are socially isolated or excluded, providing comfort, companionship and a sense of self-worth.”
Though touch is an understudied sense, the existing evidence indicates it is crucial for growth, development and health.
Touch is said to reduce the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body, particularly important for older people as other senses decline.
In interviews with 32 people, more than 90 per cent said touching their pets both comforted and relaxed them - and the pets seemed to need it as well.
The study cites examples of dogs and cats touching their owners when they were sad, or distressed.
"The feedback we received was that pets themselves seem to get just as much pleasure from the tactile interaction as humans," Young said.
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It is not only dogs or cats that respond to touch, but interviewees implied that birds, sheep, horses and even reptiles return touch.
The authors of the study wrote, "In the era of Covid-19, social distancing, sudden lockdowns and societal upheaval, our pets may be the only living beings that many people can touch and draw comfort from.”
Source: IANS