1. Connections and Companionship
The health of BC youth with pets

2. About this report
McCreary is delighted to be sharing this report which is the first time we have ever looked at the health of youth with pets, and to our knowledge is the first time anyone to look at this topic in BC.
McCreary worked with Paws for Hope Animal Foundation and are grateful to them not only for the funding for this report but for their specialist knowledge in guiding this project.
Data taken from two sources:
2013 BC Adolescent Health Survey
2014 Homeless and Street-Involved Youth Survey

3. BC AHS 2013 BC Adolescent Health Survey 29,832 surveys were completed
1,645 classrooms
56 school districts
325 PHN’s and nursing students
McCreary started the survey in 1992, and have repeated the process every five years with youth in Grades 7-12 in mainstream public schools. The most recent BC AHS occurred in 2013 and was the first one where the survey asked youth about having a pet.
For AHS V, McCreary collected:
[CLICK] 29, 832 usable surveys,
[CLICK] in 1, 645 classrooms,
[CLICK] in 56 of the 59 BC school districts,
[CLICK] with the help of over 325 public health nurses, and nursing students.
[CLICK] The black areas of the map are school districts that chose not to participate. 98.5% of the province was covered by this survey.

4. Homeless and Street Involved Youth Survey (HSIYS)
Abbotsford, Burnaby, Chilliwack, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nanaimo, Nelson, North Shore, Prince Rupert, Prince George, Surrey, Vancouver, Victoria
But we also know that many youth who are not in school have a pet so we also analyzed data from the 2014 HSIYS which captured information from homeless and street involved youth in [CLICK] 13 diverse communities across BC Can see those communities on the slide there.
[CLICK] A total of 681 surveys were gathered from youth aged
For the purpose of the survey we defined homeless or street involved as being street homeless or involved in a street lifestyle and also living in precarious housing (such as a hotel/motel/SRO/hostel; safe house/shelter; extreme weather shelter; transition house; squat/abandoned building; or couch surfing).
This is the third time McCreary has conducted this survey and the second one which asked about pets.
Although these give us some great information – there are a couple of limitations of surveys like these.
This report only describes correlations not causations. So, for example, we see that having a pet was associated with being physically active. We can’t say for certain which way that relationship goes, or if there is a third variable involved. Are those who are already active more likely to have a pet or does having a pet lead to being more active?
Also the wording in the two surveys was different. The BC AHS asked about ‘caring for a pet or animal’ and the HSIYS asked youth if they ‘had a pet.’ For the purpose of the report it is assumed that, those who took care of a pet, had a pet, and the same in reverse.
13 communities across BC
681 surveys

5. Youth with a pet
Results from the BC AHS showed that around half (52%) of the province’s students took care of a pet or other animals on an average school day, with females more likely to do so than males.

6. Youth with a pet
Similarly, 55% of males and females who completed the 2014 Homeless and Street-Involved Youth Survey (HSIYS) had at least one pet.
Thirty percent had at least one dog; 31% had a cat; and 10% had another type of pet, such as a bird, fish, rabbit, snake, or rodent.
These rates were all similar to results seen in 2006 when the survey was last completed.
For both surveys, youth aged were more likely than older youth to have a pet, and among homeless youth, those who became street-involved at younger ages more frequently had a pet.
Note: The difference between males and females owning a dog was not statistically significant.

7. Family background
On both surveys, youth of European heritage were the most likely to care for a pet and Asian youth were the least likely.
[CLICK] Among those who completed the BC AHS, those who were born in Canada were more likely to take care of a pet than those born abroad, and the longer immigrant youth lived in Canada, the more likely they had a pet.
58% of Canadian youth took care of a pet, compared to 26% of those not born in Canada (BC AHS).

8. Geographic profile
Looking at the BC AHS results, there were higher rates of pet ownership in the Interior and North and across all the regions there was generally more youth with pets in rural parts of the province. At the community level, the rates ranged from around 30% in Vancouver and Richmond to over 70% in the Northern Interior and Thompson Cariboo Shuswap regions.
[CLICK] Among homeless youth, the communities with the highest rates of pet ownership were Abbotsford/Mission and Kelowna.
Looking at different types of pets, having a dog was most common in the Interior, while youth in the Fraser had the highest rates of cat ownership, and youth in Vancouver Coastal were more likely than their peers in other regions to have a different type of pet, such as gerbils and hamsters.

9. Youth with additional challenges
Having a pet was more common among youth who:
Were going to bed hungry (BC AHS)
Identified as LGBTQ2S (BC AHS)
Had been victimised (BC AHS)
Had a limiting health condition or disability (BC AHS and HSIYS)
Struggling with body image (BC AHS)
Were socially isolated (BC AHS)
We saw that some youth who have experienced particular challenges were more likely to have a pet
For example, pet ownership was more common among youth who:
[CLICK] Were going to bed hungry because they had no food to eat at home (BC AHS)
[CLICK] Identified as LGBTQ2S (BC AHS)
[CLICK] Had been victimized such as bullied or abused (BC AHS)
[CLICK] Had a limiting health condition or disability (BC AHS and HSIYS)
[CLICK] Struggling with body image (BC AHS)
[CLICK] Were socially isolated (BC AHS)

10. Housing and having a pet
Youth who were living alone or living in unstable situations were less likely to have a pet.
Having a dog reduced the chance that homeless youth would be able to stay in a house or apartment.
Homeless pet owners were also less likely to access emergency housing.
There is a shortage of pet friendly housing in BC, and BC SPCA estimates 1,500 pets per year are surrendered due to a lack of affordable pet friendly housing. We know this is a significant underestimation as it doesn't include animals that were abandoned or privately re-homed.
What pet friendly accommodation is available tends to be more expensive because of things like pet deposits. This can be particularly challenging for youth who are homeless or are living out of the family home.
[CLICK] And the report did find that youth who were living alone or living in unstable situations were less likely to have a pet. For example, homeless youth who had been staying in the same place for over a year were almost twice as likely as those who had only been in their home a month to have a pet, and those living in the most precarious housing (such as a squat or on the street) were less likely to own a pet than those in more stable conditions.
[CLICK] Having a dog in particular reduced the chance that homeless youth would be staying in a house or apartment, and homeless youth who had a dog were the least likely to think they would get a home of their own in five years.
[CLICK] Having a pet also appeared to reduce the chances that homeless youth would be able to access emergency housing or services. For example, they were almost half as likely to be in a safe house or shelter as those without a pet, and were also less likely to access safe or affordable housing services, or soup kitchens than their peers without a pet.

11. Physical health
Overall health ratings were similar for those with a pet.
Youth were less likely to sleep well if they had a pet.
Youth with a pet rated their overall physical health similarly to those who did not have a pet.
[CLICK] However, some youth who were less likely to get a good nights sleep if they had a pet. The graph shows several examples from the BC AHS, and a similar pattern was seen among homeless youth.
Among homeless youth, one exception was that those with a mental health condition, owning a pet other than a dog was linked to sleeping more.
Note: The difference for all youth was not statistically significant.

12. Engagement in physical activity
Taking care of pets was associated with:
Exercise (BC AHS)
Physical extracurricular activities (BC AHS)
This was the case for those traditionally at risk for not being active.
Consistent with other studies, taking care of pets was associated with [CLICK] engagement in physical activities among youth who completed the BC AHS. For example, youth with a pet were more likely than those without one to engage in an hour of moderate or vigorous exercise on at least five days in the past week.
[CLICK] In addition, those with a pet were more likely to be involved in physical extracurricular activities such as informal sports, organized sports with a coach, or extreme sports.
[CLICK] This pattern was seen, even for youth who were typically at risk for not being active, such as those with a limiting health condition and sexual minority youth.
However, for some youth, having a pet was linked to challenges participating in other types of activities, such as clubs or volunteering.

13. Mental health Having a pet was linked to:
Poorer overall mental health among females (BC AHS)
Higher frequency of extreme despair among females (BC AHS)
Higher frequency of extreme stress (BC AHS)
Most youth with a pet who completed the BC AHS reported positive mental health, however [CLICK] females with a pet were less likely to rate their mental health as good or excellent and [CLICK] more likely to report extreme despair in the past month.
[CLICK] In addition, both male and female youth with a pet were more likely to report extreme stress. These higher rates of extreme stress were seen particularly among particularly vulnerable youth as and supports other research showing that youth who are struggling with social relationships and human connections were looking to pets for companionship..

14. Mental health Having a pet was linked to:
Poorer mental health among those in least stable housing (HSIYS)
Positive mental health for those dealing with other challenges (HSIYS)
As noted earlier, having a pet can be a barrier to finding housing, adding stress for homeless young people. Supporting that, homeless youth living in the most precarious housing situations (such as a squat or car) reported lower mental health rating than those in these situations without a pet.
[CLICK] However, for homeless youth dealing with other challenges, having a pet was associated with more positive mental health. For example, homeless LGBTQ2S youth with a dog were more likely to report excellent mental health than their peers without a dog, and homeless youth who had a sensory disability were half as likely to have considered suicide in the past year if they owned a dog.
[CLICK] McCreary also asked homeless youth an open-ended question about what makes them happy. These are some examples of youth who wrote about animals.

15. Feeling skilled
Youth with a pet were more likely to report that they were good at something.
On the BC AHS, youth were asked if they could think of something that they were good at. [CLICK] Those with a pet more frequently reported that they were good at something.
Females were more likely to write about skills with animals, as were youth with a mental health condition.
Among those with a mental health condition, feeling skilled with animals was linked to lower rates of extreme despair.

16. Hope for the future
Youth with a pet were more likely to see themselves with:
A job or career
A family
A home of their own
Youth with a pet were less likely to see themselves:
In school (BC AHS)
Youth were asked where they saw themselves being In five years, youth with a pet were more likely to see themselves:
[CLICK] Having a job or career
[CLICK] A family
[CLICK] A home of their own.
[CLICK] However, youth with a pet were also less likely to see themselves in school, and less likely to plan to carry on with their education beyond high school.

17. Substance use Youth with a cat Less likely to use marijuana every day
Youth with any type of pet
Less likely to have tried amphetamines
Youth with a pet in precarious housing
Less likely to use substances to manage stress (HSIYS)
Studies in the U.S. and Canada have shown a link between pet ownership and reduced substance use among people who were homeless. And data from the HSIYS supported this. For example,
[CLICK] Youth with a cat were less likely be daily marijuana users.
Youth with any type of pet were less likely to have ever used amphetamines.
Among those in the most precarious housing, a pet was associated with lower rates of substance use as a way to manage stress.
[CLICK] However, among urban youth who completed the BC AHS, having a pet was associated with a greater likelihood of ever trying alcohol or marijuana, and for females, engaging in heavy sessional drinking recently.
Urban youth who completed the BC AHS were more likely to have tried alcohol and marijuana.

18. Accessing services
Those with a pet were more likely to have missed out on:
Medical care
Mental health services (BC AHS)
Other studies have found that caring for pets is associated with better health and with lower rates of accessing needed health care. However, for street-involved youth, it can also be a barrier to accessing care.
Although pet ownership did not appear to be linked to missing out on care among homeless and street-involved youth, those who completed the BC AHS were more likely to miss out on [CLICK] necessary medical care, and [CLICK] mental health services.
[CLICK] This was also the case among youth without supportive human relationships.

19. School Homeless youth with a pet were more likely to be:
Attending school
Attending regularly
Less connected to school (HSIYS)
Youth with a pet were more likely to:
Skip school
Miss class because of family responsibilities (BC AHS)
There was a different pattern between having a pet and school attendance in the different surveys
Homeless youth reported positive associations between pet ownership and school. For example, youth with a pet were more likely to be [CLICK] attending school, and [CLICK] attending school regularly.
[CLICK] However, these youth also had poorer school connectedness – particularly for youth with additional challenges, such as precarious housing.
In the mainstream school sample (BC AHS) youth with a pet were more likely to [CLICK] skip school in the past month, and [CLICK] miss school because of family responsibilities. [CLICK] This may have been that they needed help caring for their pets, as it was especially the case for those who were living alone
* The percentage should be interpreted with caution as the standard error was relatively high but still within a releasable range.

20. Safety
BC AHS:
Pet owners felt safer in their neighbourhood during the day and at night.
HSIYS:
Not generally safer with a pet.
However, some vulnerable groups did feel safer, including those with a sensory condition.
Among youth who completed the BC AHS, those who took care of pets were more likely to report often or always feeling safe in their neighbourhood in the daytime and at night. This was particularly true for vulnerable youth, such as those who had been bullied.
[CLICK] Homeless youth did not generally feel safer in their neighbourhood if they had a pet. However, those with a sensory condition felt safer at night if they had a dog, those with any health condition more often felt safe where they were sleeping if they had a cat, and [CLICK] among those currently living in the most precarious housing, those without any supportive adults in their lives more often felt safe at night if they owned a dog or a cat.

21. Pets and social connections
Having a pet:
More likely to have 6 or more friends (BC AHS)
More likely to have non- homeless friends (HSIYS)
Other studies have suggested that pets can facilitate social interaction and build social connections within communities and this was supported by our data .
[CLICK] For example, having a pet was associated with having more friends, and for homeless youth it was associated with having friends who were not homeless, and they were also more likely to feel connected to their community
[CLICK] Having a pet was also linked to having access to supportive adults outside their family and particularly for youth who were dealing with challenges in their life as you can see on the graph

22. Homeless youth and access to vet services
29% of homeless pet owners had accessed a vet.
55% of those found the vet helpful.
Youth in the Fraser region were more likely to have accessed a vet.
[CLICK] 29% of homeless pet owners had accessed a vet, and over half of those found them to be helpful.
[CLICK] Youth in the Fraser region were more likely to have accessed a veterinarian than across the rest of the province. Even so, half of youth who said they did not have a vet in their community lived in the Fraser region.
For homeless youth, concern over not being able to afford potential veterinary bills, and having their animal taken from them, has been shown to be a major source of stress in another study and is probably at play here but that question was not specifically asked. The data did show that over half of these youth aged have a companion animal, and for homeless youth his rate has remained stable since 2006.

23. Final word Caring for a pet is linked to positive health.
However, some of these benefits can be negated by barriers associated with pet ownership.
For vulnerable youth, these can include accessing housing.
Despite this, it is still common for homeless youth to have a pet.
The result of the report have shown the benefits of having a pet for young people, and particularly those with challenges in their lives, including greater involvement in physical activity, connection to the community, feelings of safety, and lower rates of substance use.
However these benefits may be mitigated by the barriers that come with having a pet, such as missing out on school, health care or services. For homeless youth, having a pet may also be a barrier to accessing affordable housing and services such as food kitchens and shelters.
After learning about the importance of pets in young people’s lives McCreary will be improving and expanding our questions on our next survey in In the meantime, McCreary will share the findings widely and hope that they are used to support services, and particularly those for homeless youth to be more pet friendly.

24. For more information
Copies of the report are available at:
Follow us on
Facebook: McCreary Centre Society
For enquiries about this report, presentation requests, or information about accessing data from McCreary surveys, please
For more information:
[CLICK] Copies of the report are available at: Hard copies are also available to order.
[CLICK] Follow McCreary on
[CLICK] or on Facebook: McCreary Centre Society
[CLICK] For enquiries about this report, presentation requests, or information about accessing data from McCreary surveys, please

25. annie@mcs.bc.ca duncan@mcs.bc.ca
Thank you