Dog owners had a 24 percent lower risk of dying

Researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto pooled results from ten earlier studies covering nearly 3.8 million people, comparing death rates between those who owned a dog and those who did not.

Across the pooled studies, dog owners had a 24 percent lower risk of death from any cause than non-owners, and among people who had already had a heart attack or other coronary event, dog owners fared even better, with roughly a 65 percent lower risk of death during follow-up.

The studies combined were observational and the pooled figures were not adjusted for other differences, so healthier or more active people may simply be more likely to get a dog in the first place, rather than the dog itself changing anyone's health. Still, the pattern was consistent enough across ten independent studies and several countries that the authors argued it deserves more attention.

A dog in the house, a lower death rate.