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Research Overview

 

Pets and people in residential care

A study funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 1993

In 1993, The Joseph Rowntree Foundation commissioned a study to investigate the relationship between older people and their pets in the UK, and the possible distress caused should owners be forced to part with their pets when entering residential care.

Questionnaires were sent to care homes in Coventry, Birmingham, Cambridgeshire, Portsmouth, York and Greater Manchester. Housing associations were also contacted in these areas, and in-depth interviews carried out with management, care staff and residents at 10 homes.

Key findings

• Less than 20% of residential care facilities had addressed the issue of pet ownership and formulated any policy to deal with prospective pet-owning residents.
• 30% of care homes reported experiencing residents distressed through pet loss. However, staff had little knowledge of the benefits of pet ownership or the effects of pet loss, or how to provide support for bereaved pet owners.
• Many pets were euthanased when their owners entered residential care, due to a 'no-pets' policy or a 'restricted pets' policy where only birds or small caged animals were permitted.
• Despite cats and dogs being the most widely kept pets, these were excluded by over half the homes in the Rowntree survey.
• Homes which did permit personal pets reported fewer problems than expected.

Further information

Joseph Rowntree Foundation (1993) Pets and people in residential care.Social Care Research Findings no. 44
McNicholas, J., Collis, G.M. and Morley, I.E. (1993) Pets and people in residential care: towards a model of good practice. Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation: www.jrf.org.uk [LINK]

Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust: www.jrht.org.uk [LINK]

 

Losing a friend to find a home: a survey of vets, animal sanctuaries and older people

Anchor Trust, 1997/8

In 1993, a report by the Anchor Trust revealed that thousands of pets were being euthanased when their elderly owners moved into care homes that did not allow animals.

The charity, which provides housing and care for older people, interviewed 526 vets and 139 animal sanctuaries in England.

Key findings

• 38,000 animals were being destroyed out of an estimated 140,000 given to vets or animal sanctuaries each year.
• Nine out of ten animal sanctuaries that took part in the survey had been approached by pet owners who were moving to homes that do not allow animals - more than three-quarters of vets reported the same problem.
• More than a quarter of animals taken to vets and animal sanctuaries are put to sleep and vets are much more likely to put down pets than animal homes.
• More than three quarters of older pet owners surveyed said that being allowed to keep their pet was a primary factor in their choice of accommodation.

Further information
Anchor Housing Trust (1998) Losing a friend to find a home: a survey of vets, animal sanctuaries and older people. Oxfordshire, UK: Anchor Housing Trust.
Anchor Trust: www.anchor.org.uk Anchor retirement housing: www.anchorhousing.org.uk