Matthew Fiorillo plays with his dog Lulu on the funeral home’s lawn.
Photo by Jim Fitzgerald/AP
As dog owners, we all know how comforting it can be to have your best friend by your side in times of stress, and studies have shown that petting a dog has many beneficial effects on the human psyche. As an Associated press story explains, funeral home owners are employing more and more dogs to help mourners gain a little bit of solace during obviously tough times:
Whenever a dog joins a group of mourners, “the atmosphere changes,” said Mark Krause, owner and president of Krause Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Milwaukee. “In a funeral home, people are typically on edge, uncomfortable. But everyone lights up, everyone has to greet the dog.”
It’s just another way the endless benefits of dog ownership are shaping our society.