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Ethical, Altruistic, and Self-Transcendent Meanings of Pets to Older People

Ethical, Altruistic, and Self-Transcendent Meanings of Pets to Older People

14 April 2026
pets, animals, ageing, #Featured

In 2026, NSA researchers Dr Lindy Orthia and Dr Diane Hosking and University of Melbourne anthropologist Dr Rachel Morgain published a paper in the peer-reviewed journal Anthrozoös that detailed 36 meanings pets have for older Australians.

 

The paper was based on comments from 1615 participants in the 2024 National Seniors Social Survey.

 

Click here to read our summary of the research, first published in NSA’s Connect newsletter. Options for accessing the paper itself are listed at the end of the article.

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National Seniors is a not-for-profit membership and advocacy organisation that gives older Australians – working and retired – a strong national voice. We tackle issues such as age discrimination, mature age employment, the Age Pension, social inclusion, cost of living concerns and more.

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