{"id":101870,"date":"2025-05-27T16:31:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T20:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=101870"},"modified":"2025-06-03T10:49:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T14:49:10","slug":"opinion-renata-roma-and-christine-tardif-williams-discuss-barriers-to-pet-companionship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2025\/05\/opinion-renata-roma-and-christine-tardif-williams-discuss-barriers-to-pet-companionship\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Renata Roma and Christine Tardif-Williams discuss barriers to pet companionship"},"content":{"rendered":"

This piece written by Renata Roma (PhD ’23)<\/span><\/span>, Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Saskatchewan, and Christine Tardif-Williams, Professor of Child and Youth Studies,<\/span>\u00a0originally appeared in The Conversation<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The\u00a0benefits of pet companionship\u00a0have been widely researched and celebrated.<\/p>\n

Pets can\u00a0improve our mood\u00a0and immune system.\u00a0They can also encourage staying active\u00a0and fit, offer emotional comfort and companionship, and\u00a0foster social connections. Pets can even\u00a0increase life expectancy.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, pet companionship is not always easily accessible to everyone. Several groups face hurdles when it comes to sharing time or living with a pet.\u00a0Some of the hurdles\u00a0that people can face when accessing pets include the lack of pet-friendly housing and\u00a0financial resources to afford\u00a0pet food and veterinary care.<\/p>\n

There can also be more concrete barriers to pet companionship, such as\u00a0no-pet clauses\u00a0in rental agreements or\u00a0no-pet policies\u00a0in retirement homes.<\/p>\n

As we strive for social equality, it is essential to address hurdles that prevent some people from experiencing the known benefits of spending time or living with a pet.<\/p>\n

Challenges and misconceptions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Several factors\u00a0can make pet companionship less accessible. Some of these factors include lack of appropriate housing and lack of financial resources for pet food and pet-related veterinary services.\u00a0A Canadian survey\u00a0found that new immigrants and young people aged 18 to 34 years are the groups most affected by these factors and, often, elderly people experience\u00a0housing-related and financial challenges.<\/p>\n

For pet guardians, the inability to pay for grooming services, food or health-care services can create feelings of distress and, for their pets, this can lead to a reduced quality of life. In this case, we see that the well-being of both pet guardians and their beloved pets can be compromised.<\/p>\n

Moreover,\u00a0some studies\u00a0link higher income to an increased likelihood of living with companion animals. When it comes to economic factors, it is concerning that some believe certain groups of people should not be pet guardians.\u00a0The Michelson Found Animals Foundation\u00a0highlights several misconceptions about living with companion animals, which are often associated with financial hardships.<\/p>\n

For example,\u00a0some people believe\u00a0that people who live in apartments, rather than homes with backyards and green space, should only have small dogs as pets. However, this belief ignores a dog\u2019s energy level as some small dogs are highly energetic while some big dogs are less energetic. This belief also does not consider the guardian\u2019s ability to provide mental and physical stimulation for their dog.<\/p>\n

Still other people believe that if someone cannot afford the costs associated with caring for a pet, they should not have a one. This belief only reinforces social inequalities and reflects a deeper form of discrimination.<\/p>\n

Financial problems and housing restrictions\u00a0may force people to give up their pets, and this is an emotionally difficult decision.\u00a0Research by\u00a0Christine Yvette Tardif-Williams, one of the authors of this story, with childhood and youth researcher Rebecca Raby and graduate students at Brock University\u00a0shows how homeless\u00a0children often navigate feelings of emotional intimacy towards their pets alongside feelings of loss and grief. In this research, homeless children shared stories about missing or losing companion animals either through separation or death.<\/p>\n

Research also shows\u00a0that most people experiencing homelessness are responsible pet guardians, and that their pets are often very healthy and that they too benefit from human companionship \u2014 it\u2019s a mutually beneficial, two-way emotional connection.<\/p>\n

A more equitable future in pet companionship<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pet companionship and systemic inequalities are interconnected. For instance, many socioeconomically disadvantaged and marginalized families and communities \u2014 including, but not limited to, racialized, Indigenous, homeless, immigrant and refugee families and their children \u2014 face barriers to pet companionship.<\/p>\n

We need targeted strategies and policies\u00a0to reduce the barriers faced by these families and communities. It is important to create more opportunities for people and pets to live together. This can help us to address social inequality in pet companionship among diverse groups.<\/p>\n

Some studies\u00a0highlight the need for increasing access to free or low-cost veterinary care. Making shelters and housing more\u00a0pet-friendly\u00a0is also essential. Promoting campaigns to reduce misconceptions about pet companionship among diverse groups of people is another key strategy.<\/p>\n

One example of a program that helps make pet companionship more accessible is\u00a0Community Veterinary Outreach (CVO).This is a registered charity located across different provinces in Canada. They provide health care for people and preventive care for pets. They also run education programs covering topics such as animal behaviour, nutrition, and dental care. Together, these services help to\u00a0support vulnerable populations\u00a0living with pets.<\/p>\n

Another example is the\u00a0PetCard program, a Canadian financing program that offers flexible options for people to split the payment of veterinary-related services.<\/p>\n

However, we need more consistent collaborative work that begins by raising awareness about the importance of pet companionship for\u00a0diverse groups of people. Expanding this discussion can help us design fairer policies about pet companionship, foster social justice and bring communities together.<\/p>\n

Overlooking the relevance of this discussion can reinforce discriminatory views around pet companionship.<\/p>\n

Supporting pet companionship<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is problematic when\u00a0access to pet companionship is restricted\u00a0due to a family\u2019s economic status or housing opportunities, since it means they\u2019re less likely to experience the well-being benefits of pet companionship. In this way, pet-related benefits are limited to a select and privileged group.<\/p>\n

We can help people and animals build meaningful bonds by promoting equitable access to companionship. The needs of pets must also be prioritized in any effort to increase access to pet companionship. This means making sure pets\u2019 physical and emotional needs are met and that they also benefit from the human-pet bond. Pets\u2019 well-being and rights should always come first when making pet companionship more accessible.<\/p>\n

To create a fair approach to supporting pet companionship among diverse populations, we need to balance human and pet needs and ensure the well-being of both humans and their pets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Renata Roma (PhD ’23), Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Saskatchewan, and Christine Tardif-Williams, Professor of Child and Youth Studies, recently published a piece in The Conversation about the barriers to, and benefits of, pet companionship. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":101876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,38],"tags":[8496,5512],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101870"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101870"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102015,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101870\/revisions\/102015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}