The pets factor in the Happiness Index
In the parching heat of summer, all roads lead to the malls. Sunday is the day to literally “chill” in the air-conditioned comfort of a vast exhibition hall of the comforts of life. The malls are alive!
Who worries about the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate, the rising inflation, or the depreciating peso, when sitting it out in the long queues for that foreign-licensed Japanese fast food, at the local eat-all-you-can buffet, or the popular go-to Chinese restaurants, or any of the franchised food outlets at the malls? Yes, food seems to be the main attraction at the malls nowadays. Shopping has not reached the pre-COVID consumption levels of three years ago.
A young woman sits outside a name-brand store for ladies’ wear. She is tending a pet stroller with a fluffed-up Shih Tzu puppy dog and an older, well-groomed Bichon Frise. Why aren’t you inside the store — there’s a 50%-off sale? “My Mom’s inside, just taking a look at things,” she says. “I’m happier just sitting here, enjoying our dogs.” Look around, and there are dozens of dogs on leashes, prancing or waddling around in the mall, or riding serenely in strollers like they were precious little baby humans. The doggies even wear baby diapers!
The welcome presence of pet dogs in the malls is a subtle but eloquent statement for the noticeable shift in the priorities of society for quality of life over economic wants. Malls are now social places more than shopping places! For the economists and finance-conscious, the analysis of GDP growth and other econometrics might have crossed the line to the now-preferred “Gross National Happiness Index” that states that sustainable economic development is based on peace and contentment in society.
The phrase “gross national happiness” was first coined by the 4th King of Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in 1972 when he declared, “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product.” The concept implies that sustainable development should take a holistic approach towards notions of progress and give equal importance to non-economic aspects of wellbeing (Oxford University, ophi.org.uk).
Bhutan since then adopted gross national happiness instead of gross domestic product as their main development indicator. In 2011, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 65/309 Happiness: Towards a Holistic Definition of Development, inviting member countries to measure the happiness of their people and to use the data to help guide public policy. In 2012, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley of Bhutan jointly chaired the meeting “Well-being and Happiness: Defining a New Economic Paradigm,” that launched the first World Happiness Report which outlined the state of world happiness, causes of happiness and misery, and policy implications highlighted by case studies. It has been issued on an annual basis on the 20th of March, to coincide with the UN’s International Day of Happiness.
Finland leads the ranking of the world’s happiest countries for the sixth year in a row, with its score of 7.8 points out of 10, according to the 2023 World Happiness Report (WHR). The Nordic countries — Sweden, Norway, and Denmark — are in the top 10, with the United States in 15th place and the United Kingdom in 19th.
The Philippines is the 76th happiest country in the world, according to the 2023 WHR, down from 60th out of 146 in 2022 (PTV News, March 22, 2023). The Philippines scored 5.52 points in 2022 compared to the world average of 5.53 points for 135 countries (the global economy.com).
Of course, the long-staying COVID-19 pandemic has malevolently toyed with world happiness. Three years of anxiety sucked the joy out of living. The isolation and the restrictions on movement and contact perversely urged rebellious escape, but sane minds knew there was no way but to follow health protocols. Perhaps the resurgent interest in having pets is a coping mechanism for the robbing of joie de vivre. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was officially declared, internet searches in the ASEAN region for pets increased 88% from the same period in 2019, before the pandemic. Based on data from Google, the searches for pets in the region from January to September 2021 logged a total of roughly 12.9 million. “Filipinos have the highest overall searches for pets, reaching almost 7 million Google searches by September 2021, nearly four times [times] Vietnam’s,” the group noted in a release (interaksyon.philstar.com, Nov. 22, 2021).
Psychologists and therapists advise that “Pets, especially dogs and cats, can reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and ease loneliness, encourage exercise and playfulness, and even improve your cardiovascular health” (helpline.org). “Dogs have a magic effect: how pets can improve our mental health” is the title of an analysis in The Guardian (March 17, 2020) which says that “Canine companions trigger similar neural pathways to the parent-baby bond and reduce loneliness and depression. Now new pet therapy trials are reporting dramatic effects.”
It continues: “What is responsible for these therapeutic effects? One key aspect appears to be social recognition — the process of identifying another being as someone important and significant to you. The bond that forms between owner and pet is, it seems, similar to the bond that a mother forms with her baby.
“The importance of social recognition is increasingly acknowledged for the role it plays in helping us form networks. We now understand that healthy social bonds can play a key role in mental health; without them, we become lonely, depressed and physically unwell. And pets, it seems, can fulfil that role. Academic and psychologist June McNicholas points out that pets can be a lifeline for socially isolated people.”
And so, we tie together having pets and bringing these pets to the malls — showing off the “babies” that the pets are to their owners — in the grand revival of the social networking in the community so aptly demonstrated by the microcosm of society that is the mall. The 2021 Rakuten survey in Asia said the Philippines ranked the highest in terms of dog ownership at 67% and the second highest in cat ownership at 43% (The Philippine Star, Feb. 2, 2023).
That the malls welcome pets cannot just simply be a PR strategy for better marketing and sales. Mall operators recognize and respect the basic human right to happiness and health that can be found in the simple joy of having a pet and companion who loves unconditionally and faithfully.
All the malls in the Makati area now allow pets on a leash or in a stroller. Perhaps the most openly pet-friendly is the Rockwell Center, where happy pet owners, whether residents or transients, freely walk their dogs on the sidewalks, to and from buildings and into the Power Plant Mall, where social and commercial activities thrive, and even regular Catholic Holy Masses are held. The SM Mall in Makati welcomes dogs, as they do in Megamall, SM North EDSA, and all their malls in Metro Manila. But we were first to allow pets, the Ayala Center Estates Association (ACEA) claims. The ACEA even boasts of a “Bark Park,” an activity center for pets and their owners in the middle of the Glorietta Mall grounds, between their Park Terraces Condominium and Garden Terraces Condominium. And, yes, all Ayala Land Premier condominiums allow unit owners to have pets.
It is heartwarming and inspiring to feel the pets factor driving up the Happiness Index for Filipinos.
As Abraham Lincoln sagaciously said, “all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.
