@arstechnica Even so, call it anecdotal, but I think pretty much any pet owner (like really close to 100%) will tell you having a pet really is good mental health if nothing else.
I feel like there is an implied fallacy (I call reverse appeal to authority -- the belief that ONLY an authority can make a statement about a thing.) We don't need studies to tell us the sky appears blue to the human eye. Studies would just be helpful in finding out why if we didn't already know.