basis for our mental health and emotional wellbeing… Human health and wellbeing are strictly dependent on our relationships with the natural world… Disrupting the affiliation with nature and thus losing the biophilic equilibrium means altering and damaging our psychophysical health”2. Although biophilia is derived from


Greek “love of life,” Ayurvedic teachings contained a similar concept known as “the science of life” thousands of years earlier. It claims that good health and wholeness are achievable only when living in har- mony with the natural environment. Simi- larly, ancient Taoist philosophy of China describes the entire universe as a living organism, resistant to disease only when functioning well as a whole, dependent on the function of each and every part3. As noted below, modern studies elaborate on these time-tested theories and their significance to developing brains in par- ticular4, 5.


Pets and people


Most parents report the reason for obtain- ing a pet as “for the children”5. Animal companionship particularly benefits the young, sick, stressed, and disabled. Expanding upon the positive effects of an animal presence, animal-assisted therapies have become widely-accepted in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes. Animal- assisted therapy for children has been shown to result in a “significantly greater reduction in the mean severity of depressive symptoms”5. In one study, a person’s symptoms of depression were alle- viated within just two weeks of therapy with dolphins27. Moods, heart rates, and pain and anxiety ratings of children in hospitals have been positively affected by pet therapy28, 29. These programs are also effective at improving the function of impaired areas for those with autism spectrum disorders with “unanimously positive outcomes”30. Companion ani- mals can bring “new meaning and comfort” to people with dementia and Alzheimer’s, decreasing agitation behaviors and physiological stress31. Pets have a “ripple effect” on neighborhood friendliness


and civic engagement as “facilitators of social interactions and sense of community”32. This suggests that the human- animal bond is beneficial not only for individual health and well-being, but also for those of the community at large, even to non-pet owners. These are examples of positive external costs of pets. Biophilia is “the innately emotional affiliation of human


beings to other living organisms. Innate means hereditary and hence part of ultimate human nature,” explained Wil- son33. Children are especially susceptible to these emotional tugs as they visit zoos more often than attending major pro- fessional sports events in the US and Canada33. Some advo- cate for the incorporation of children’s relationships with the non-human world as indicators of their “perceptual, cogni-


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tive, social, and emotional development”34. Wilson believed that our relationship with the natural world affects and is affected by our overall social behavior, even criticizing the apparent lack of attention given to this theory on the part of cognitive psychologists35. Children are particularly at-risk to the detriments of


poorly managed pet populations. Dog bites have been deemed “a significant, yet preventable, public health prob- lem in the US, affecting an estimated 4.5 million people annually… Studies analyzing dog bites in the US population have found that children, especially boys, are represented disproportionately”16. Poorly managed pet populations also correlate with domestic violence12 and diseases or parasitic infections, some of which have been linked to developmen- tal delays in children13. Rabies is responsible for over 59,000 deaths every year


around the world, the vast majority in Africa and Asia, dis- proportionately affecting those with limited access to health- care, almost half of whom are children under fifteen14. The World Health Organization recommends “mass vaccination of dogs” (98% of human rabies deaths are from canines), which usually happens when they are spayed or neutered — vital services that animal rescue organizations provide. This has been effective when only 70% of the population is vaccinated15. In order to address this crisis, societal goals should include the reduction of pets produced, subsidization of


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