How having a pet can benefit children and teach skills for life

From companionship to an emotional life to empathy, having dogs and cats in the house has untold benefits for all the family

Eve McDonnell with her twins, Faye and Bobby, and their dog Happy at home near Gorey, County Wexford. Picture: Patrick Browne

“They are mood-changers,” says Eve McDonnell about the impact of the family’s four pets on her teenage twins.

There’s Happy, the golden retriever whose personality lives up to his name, and the three black cats: Fusspot, a two-and-a-half-year-old rescue cat, has always remained kitten-sized. Socket has two white socks, “is completely wired to the moon” and moved in from the neighbour’s house.