Margaret Jennings explores the health benefits of having pets for the over 55s, from connecting with others and greater wellbeing to reduced blood pressure    

WEIGHING some 50 kilos and reaching to her shoulder, Percy is not just big — he’s the light of Linda Madden’s life.

A YEAR ago, in response to the public outrage that followed raids on horrific puppy farms around the State, the then Minister for the Environment, Martin Cullen, convened a working group.