Not only do people seem happier when animals are nearby, but they may also live longer. Studies show that a year after heart surgery, survival rates for heart patients were higher for those with pets in their homes than those without pats. Elderly people with pets make fewer trips to doctors than those who are without animals companions, possibly because animals lessen loneliness. A professor of public health at UCLA says that pet ownership might provide a new form of “low-cost health intervention.”