Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (ReCHAI) Expansion
(visit the ReCHAI Web Site)

It has been long suspected that petting a dog has beneficial qualities. Today, research at the University of Missouri has confirmed this and more. It has been scientifically documented that the elderly can live longer and enjoy happier lives through mutual exercise and companionship. Interaction with a pet will increase positive hormones in a person and decrease the manufacture of negative chemicals that lead to illness.

On the leading edge of these studies is the new Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (ReCHAI). ReCHAI aims to develop a program for research and education to study the health benefits of human-animal interaction (HAI), promote the science of HAI, provide evidence for recognition of Animal Assisted Activity as a beneficial form of complementary therapy, celebrate and better document the benefits of HAI, collaborate with other centers nationally and internationally to promote HAI, and foster public understanding of benefits of HAI.

Donations to ReCHAI will help realize each of these goals and help get medicine closer to the day when a pet may be a better prescription than a pill.