Pat a pet a day to keep autism at bay

Well, not exactly like that but that's the general idea.

Reseachers from the Hospital Research Centre of Brest in France have been tracking the behavior of children who have pets and those who don't. Apparently there were some differences.

More information here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/articl...kills.html

Have you witnessed any differences between children who have pets and those who don't? Do you think it's a good idea for children to have pets?

I've also heard that petting a pet lowers your blood pressure and has an overall calming effect on people, increasing their life expectancy. I personally have always had pets, cats for the most part, from the moment I was born and I can't imagine not having a cat at this point. I have a son of my own now and I think having pets is a wonderful thing for children because not only does it teach them responsibility in caring for the pet but also patience, compassion, and gentleness.

That's wonderful. When I was a kid, we lived in a small house and pets were not exactly encouraged. It was very much later in my life that I could keep pets. I have been reading quite a lot of news about dogs being used as therapy in hospitals. There are even some prisons which use dogs to rehabilitate the inmates.

I look forward to the day when cats and dogs taken into animal shelters do not have to be put down but instead are put to good use helping people.