F E A T U R E
S T O R Y
N e w Ye a r, N e w Yo u !
Reasons why adopting a dog in the new year could be beneficial to you and your health WRITTEN BY: CHELSEA SALERNO, Copy Editor
If you’re like me, then your New Year is often celebrated the same way: by coming up with resolutions in order to better myself and my life, and undoubtably failing to meet these high standards I set for myself. For example, I used to say I would start going to the gym three times a week. I hate the gym, I hate working out and I hate sweating so clearly this was a terrible resolution for me but every single January 1st I would start my “New Year, New Me” regime of going to the gym and by January 15th I had already dropped the habit. For a lot of us, New Years resolutions are impossible to keep up with because they are usually things that we hate doing. But what if there was a resolution that would not only enrich your life but also help save another’s? That’s right, I’m talking about adopting a dog! Dogs enrich our lives in so many ways. They can make us feel less alone by being there for you when friends and family can’t. They give us unconditional love and support in even the darkest of times and
can often give us a purpose. A national survey of pet owners and non-pet owners by the Human Animal Bond Research found that 85 percent of respondents believe that interaction with pets reduces loneliness and can help address social isolation, which is more important in the era of COVID-19 than ever before. Dogs can also lower anxiety levels by offering comfort and affection. Because of this, there has been a sharp increase in
