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Lopiccolo
Maria Lopiccolo

Professor Blackman

ENC 1101

8 October 2023

JSTOR Essay

In today’s world, pets have had a significant effect on human health and psychological

well-being, rather than just being a furry friend. The articles “The Impact of Pets on Human

Health and Psychological Well-Being: Fact, Fiction, or Hypothesis?” and “Pets and Mental

Health” talk about the benefits of pets to mental and human health.

Harold Herzog in “The Impact of Pets on Human Health and Psychological Well-Being:

Fact. Fiction, or Hypothesis?,” uses logos and context. Herzog uses logos by showing statistics

and studies that have been done to show human-animal relationships and the effectiveness for

human and mental health (Herzog 238). Herzog does not use any personal convictions to claim

that companion animals are good for them, because it has no scientific evidence (236). The

possible audience of this article would be possible pet owners, researchers, and psychologists.

Herzog’s purpose of his article is to inform the audience about the “pet effect,” “the idea that

living with an animal can improve human health, psychological health, and longevity” and gives

reasons how it can both be true and false in different circumstances to allow the audience to

make up their own mind (236). The constraints of these texts are accessibility, exposure and

popularity. Accessibility, exposure and popularity are constraints because the text is only on the

JSTOR database, which costs money for nonstudents or teachers to subscribe and read the

articles. In turn the exposure and popularity of the article is not as high as a free article would be.
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Hugh Grady in “Pets and Mental Health” uses pathos and background to persuade the

readers of his opinion. The use of pathos was employed by Grady throughout the entire article.

Grady states that he is a “recovering alcoholic and drug addict and a history of depression”

(Grady 70). By him stating this he uses pathos to evoke emotion, whether it be pity, a feeling of

understanding, or relating to his situation. Grady wants to evoke emotion by using pathos so that

he can persuade the audience of his view that “no matter the context, pets have a positive effect

on the mental health and well-being of their owners” (71). The possible audience of this article

would be possible pet owners, researchers, and psychologists. The constraints of this text are

bias, accessibility, and exposure. Grady only explores the view that pets have a positive effect on

the mental health and well-being of their owners. One constraint is that Grady never mentions

that there could be ways that a pet could not affect the mental health or well-being of their

owners at all or could negatively affect the owner’s mental health. Accessibility and exposure are

another constraint because the article “Pets and Mental Health” is only on the JSTOR database,

which costs money for nonstudents or teachers to subscribe and read the articles. In turn the

exposure of the article is not as high as a free article would be.

Both articles, “The Impact of Pets on Human Health and Psychological Well-Being: Fact.

Fiction, or Hypothesis?” by Harold Herzog and “Pets and Mental Health” by Hugh Grady,

approach the subject of whether pets help mental health and physical health in different ways.

While Herzog’s article focuses on logos through statistics and studies, Grady’s article focuses on

pathos and evoking the emotions of the audience to agree that pets have a positive effect on

mental health or well-being of their owners. Herzog’s article also gives the ways that “pet effect”

could be inconclusive and how having a pet could have no impact or even a negative effect on

human physical health or mental health (Herzog 237). While the articles have major differences,
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there are also some similarities. For example, both articles talk about the positive effects that pets

have on human physical and mental health. Another similarity is that both articles quote

scientific research, however Herzog’s article relies more upon scientific research than Grady’s

article. Both articles also give examples on how pets have helped their owners mental and

physical health. For example, in Herzog’s article he mentions “among 11,000 German and

Australian adults, pet owners were in better physical condition than non-pet owners” (237). In

Grady’s article he talks about a personal experience where he was in a state of depression, a

recovering alcoholic and drug addict, his journey with his dog Bix, and how much of a positive

impact Bix had on Grady.

The most useful academic article for research is “The Impact of Pets on Human Health

and Psychological Well-Being: Fact. Fiction, or Hypothesis?" by Harold Herzog. There are many

reasons that Herzog’s article is more useful than Grady’s article, “Pets and Mental Health”. One

reason is because Herzog uses all scientific research to inform the audience, while Grady uses

mostly opinion to support his claim. Another reason why Herzog’s article is more useful is

because Herzog showed both views on how pets are good for people, how pets could have

negative effects on people, and how the “pet effect” is inconclusive.

As of 2023, 66% of American households own a pet, which is a significant increase over

the past three decades. As mental and physical health is more talked about in recent years, these

articles are a good source of information for both pet owners and non-pet owners alike. Further

research could be done to see if the increase in pet ownership is in direct relation to how pets

help mental and physical health.

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Work Cited

Megna, Michelle, and Ashlee Tilford. "Pet Ownership Statistics 2023." Forbes Advisor, 23 Jul.

2023, www.forbes.com/advisor/pet-insurance/pet-ownership

statistics/#:~:text=to%20pet%20ownership%3A-,As%20of%202023%2C

%2066%25%20of%20U.S.%20households%20(86.9%20million,acquired%20pets

%20during%20the%20pandemic.

Herzog, Harold. "The Impact of Pets on Human Health and Psychological Well-Being: Fact,

Fiction, or Hypothesis?" S): Harold Herzog Source: Current Directions in Psychological

Science, vol. Vol. 20, no. No.4, 2011, pp. 236-239, https://doi.org/Sage Publications, Inc.

on behalf of Association for Psychological Science.

Grady, Hugh. "Pets and Mental Health." GPSolo, vol. Vol. 26, no. No.5, 2009, pp. 70-71,

https://doi.org/American Bar Association.