Hill’s Pet Nutrition Partners with HABRI to Advance Scientific Evidence on Companion Animal Benefits to Human Health

A new collaboration between HABRI and Hill’s Pet Nutrition aims to deepen scientific understanding of how companion animals enhance human health, amid rising corporate interest in pet-related research.

The Human Animal Bond Research Institute and Hill’s Pet Nutrition have formed a new partnership aimed at expanding scientific understanding of how companion animals affect human health and wellbeing.

According to the companies, the collaboration will support research into the practical benefits of pet ownership, building on evidence that strong bonds with animals are associated with better mental, physical and social outcomes. HABRI says it has funded more than 60 research projects on the subject, and its findings suggest that people with stronger relationships with their pets are more likely to provide better nutrition, visit the vet more regularly and spend more time with them.

Yvonne Hsu, president of Hill’s Pet Nutrition, said the company’s mission was to help “enrich and lengthen” relationships between people and their pets. Steven Feldman, president of HABRI, said the tie-up would help owners and veterinarians better understand how to use the bond to improve health at both ends of the leash.

The move fits a wider pattern of pet-industry support for HABRI’s work. In recent months, the research body has announced partnerships with Ancestry, MetLife Pet Insurance and Freshpet, while APPA continues to back the institute through its Pet Giving Network. The growing list of corporate supporters underlines how the human-animal bond has become not just a welfare issue, but a commercial and scientific one.