Mars Inc. donates $2 million toward human-animal interaction research

McLean, Va.

-- The WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, a division of Mars Inc., committed more than $2 million to help fund research over the next four years on various aspects of pet ownership, a field formally known as human-animal interaction (HAI).

The Mars donation goes to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), a division of the National Institutes of Health. The NICHD will add the Mars donation to research funds it has allocated for its first formal program involving HAI.

"Nearly 75 percent of U.S. households have a pet, yet very few large-scale studies have been done to examine how the bond between people and their pets impacts our psychological and physical well-being. We have a respect for peer-reviewed science and a long history in HAI research and look forward to partnering with NICHD to expand our ... understanding in this area," said Cathie Woteki, PhD, global director of scientific affairs for Mars Inc.

The Mars donation will help fund NICHD studies in three areas: the impact of human-animal interaction on typical development and health; clinical trials focusing on the role animals play in physical and psychological therapeutic treatment; and the impact of animals on public health, including the cost-effectiveness of animals in reducing and preventing disease.