Social capital and pet ownership - A tale of four cities.
Lisa Wood, Karen Martin, Hayley Christian, Steve Houghton, Ichiro Kawachi, Shannen Vallesi, Sandra McCune
Author Information
Lisa Wood: School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia (M431), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
Karen Martin: School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia (M431), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
Hayley Christian: School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia (M431), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
Steve Houghton: Faculty of Education, The University of Western Australia (M431), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
Ichiro Kawachi: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Kresge Building 7th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Shannen Vallesi: School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia (M431), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
Sandra McCune: WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, Freeby Lane, Waltham on the Wolds, Leicestershire, UK.
•Pet ownership is significantly associated with higher levels of social capital.•Social capital was associated with pet ownership in the U.S. and Australia.•Results are not confined to dog owners nor dog walkers.•Pets are an under-recognized conduit for building social capital.
References
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