Healing Companions
Ordinary Dogs Transforming Lives
Psychiatric Service Dogs: Fast Facts
DID YOU KNOW?
- 1 in 4 adults experience mental illness each year.
- 70% of youth in the justice system have at least one mental health condition, and at least 20% live with severe mental illness.
- Adults living with mental illness die on average 25 years earlier than other Americans, largely due to treatable medical conditions.
- From 2009 to 2011, states cut more than $1.8-billion from their budgets for services helping children and adults who have mental illnesses.
- According to the University of Arizona, 0.9% of persons with disabilities are partnered with service dogs.
- In 1990, Congress found that there were 43 million Americans with disabilities, suggesting there are approximately 387,000 service dogs across the US.
The estimated economic cost of untreated mental illness in the U.S. This includes unemployment, unnecessary disability, substance abuse and more.
The percentage of individuals with mental illness who saw improvement in their symptoms and quality of life after participating in some form of treatment.
The number of college students who reported feeling depressed to the point where it negatively impacted their ability to function. Approximately 7.5 percent of college students also reported earlier this year that they seriously considered suicide in the last 12 months.
The number veterans who died by suicide between 2008 and 2017 (according to Department of Veterans Affairs), with little sign that the crisis is abating despite suicide prevention being the VA’s top priority.
The percentage of mothers polled in a recent BabyCenter survey who stated they have been diagnosed with postpartum depression. Approximately 40 percent of them did not seek medical treatment.
The number of people who died by suicide in the United States in 2018.
The amount spent annually by local governments to shelter and ultimately destroy 8-10 million adoptable dogs and cats due of shortage of homes. Source: Business Wire Features
10,000 humans are born in the U.S. – and each day 70,000 puppies and kittens are born. As long as these birth rates exist, there will never be enough homes for all the animals. Source: Spay USA
The number of owned dogs in the US, of those approximately 20 percent were adopted from animal shelters and the average annual amount spent by dog owners on routine veterinary visits was $291
The number of animals who enter animal shelters across the US annually. 710,000 strays are returned to their owners each year. 23% of dogs in the US were adopted from an animal shelter. Approximately 25% of shelter dogs are purebred. 733,000 pets were euthanized in 2019.