I am looking for new information about Canadian studies, reports,
projects dealing with positive medical results in cases where animals
were used for healing or health care purposes (for example - pets are
known to lower blood pressure in people, people who have pets recover
more quickly from heart attacks etc.) Where can I find credible stats,
facts studies and reports on healing with animals from a Canadian
perspective?

doggirl,

Great question! When my husband was hospitalized a few years ago, a
golden retriever was brought in to “visit” with him. Even though we
are dog lovers, I was skeptical that an unknown dog could have much
effect on my husband. I was pleasantly surprised to see my husband
become more animated, and less focused on his condition, as he petted
and snuggled this canine therapist! The gorgeous dog even wore a
hospital-issued photo ID tag. The dog’s owner snapped a Polaroid
picture and my husband showed it to all his human visitors! I became a
believer in the power of pets that afternoon!

 According to this site, pet therapy got its start York Retreat,
England, in 1792, when animals were used as therapy for mental
patients. Later, in the US, the Army Air Corps utilized farm animals 
in their Red Cross run Convalescent  Centers.
http://members.tripod.com/~SUE_ME/news2.html

James Lynch, Ph.D. began researching the effects of pets on human
health over twenty years ago, with a colleague, Dr. Aaron Katcher. The
researchers found that heart patients with pets had a greater  chance
of surviving than those who did not have pets. “78 of the 92 patients
that we followed lived for at least one year, while another 14
patients died. Of the total group of patients, 58% reported that they
had one or more pets, while 42% did not have any pets.”  A year later,
28 of the patients without pets were still alive and 11 had died. Of
the patients who had pets, 50 were still alive with only 3 deaths.
Harry Reasoner and the “Sixty Minutes” crew came to Dr. Lynch’s home,
over 20 years ago to film a documentary on the phenomena of pet
therapy. Mr. Reasoner and crew  watched as Dr. Lynch’s daughter’s
blood pressure dropped by 50% upon petting the family dog “Rags”. To
read the entire study, visit the site below:
http://www.deltasociety.org/dsx109.htm
In 1984 the above mentioned Dr. Katcher was involved in a study on
lowered blood pressure in patients who had been watching an aquarium.
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p990243.html
More studies on touch and animal therapy, from Drs. Alan Beck and
Aaron Katcher:
http://library.rider.edu/scholarly/rlackie/Invisible/Inv_Web.html

In 1980, Dr.Friedmann and colleagues studied survival rates of
pet-owners versus non-pet owners who had had a myocardial infarction
(Heart attack). The group found a much higher survival rate, one year
later, for pet owners. “Perhaps the largest cardiovascular study of
pet owners conducted to date involved over 5,700 participants taking
part in a cardiovascular screening program in Australia (Anderson et
al., 1992). The results showed that male pet owners had significantly
lower systolic blood pressure, and triglyceride and cholesterol levels
than males who did not own pets. The study also showed that, of
females over the age of 40, those who owned pets had lower systolic
blood pressure and triglyceride levels than those who did not.”
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p990243.html

Health benefits of animals to for sufferers of allergies, AIDS, high
blood pressure, heart disease, autism, low self-esteem, high
cholesterol, and others:
http://www.deltasociety.org/dsc020.htm

An exceprt from  The Waltham Book of Human-Animal Interactions:
Benefits and Responsibilities , By Erika Friedmann
The article discusses the way the health professions have finally come
to recognize how dramatically  one’s health depends on interpersonal
aspects of life. The article looks at the causative issues of animal’s
impact on health as well. “Thus, it has been hypothesized that pets
can decrease anxiety and sympathetic nervous system arousal”
http://www.deltasociety.org/download/friedmann.rtf

An Australian study on the health benefits of pets examines the
relationship of how having a pet can change one’s lifestyle, thus
indirectly promoting better health  “…acquiring a dog or cat produced
a subsequent improvement in health and psychological well-being and
dog ownership led to more exercise.”
http://www.ava.com.au/content/confer/uam/proc95/headey.htm

Therapy animals are not to be confused with assistant/helper animals.
http://www.censhare.umn.edu/AAT2.htm

Medical dolphins – effects of dolphin-swims on children with Down's
syndrome, autism, cancer, and mental retardation
http://www.vr-atlantis.com/vr_systems_html/cyberfin_article1.html
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9803/28/dolphin.therapy/    (This site does
have some broken links at the foot of the page)
http://www.dolphinhumantherapy.com/oldweb/about_us.htm

Puppy Love- An article from the Mayo Clinic
http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=HQ01209

Extra information: 
I found these sites while conducting your research. Most of the
content was so enjoyable , I just had to share, even though it is
somewhat off your topic!

How pets help battered women cope:
http://www.psyeta.org/sa/sa8.2/flynn.shtml

Pet therapy stories
http://www.afn.org/~afn26752/therapy.html

Animal Assisted Therapy
http://www.create-a-smile.org/Pages/A_Unique_Charity.html

Take a Fish to Work--Guppy Love (!) 
http://www.appma.org/current_news/take_a_fish_makes_splash.html


Human-Animal bond Association of Canada
http://home.istar.ca/%7Ehabac/

A list of Pet-Therapy links from the University of Guelph
http://www.lib.uoguelph.ca/pathfinders/habond/web_links.htm

Animals in the Classroom: Children developed skill, self-awareness,
and reinforced positive behavior changes.
http://paws.shopalberta.com/PClassroom.htm

How Pet therapy is implemented
http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/prgrm/fsw/pet/pet-34_e.shtml

Heart and respiration rates, as well as blood pressure can be lowered
by stroking a dog or cat.  Autistic children can become more serene
with per therapy.
http://www.healingwell.com/library/health/mitchell3.asp
http://www.willowrose.com/therapy.html

http://www.sniksnak.com/therapy.html

http://www.willowrose.com/therapy.html

http://humano.ya.com/proan/ingles.html

http://www.censhare.umn.edu/

http://www.completepetmart.com/petcare/benefitsdog.htm

Page of articles
http://www.deltasociety.org/dsx100.htm


In a letter from the Humans Society of the United States to The Pets
of British Columbia (POWER) website:
“It's well known that relaxed, happy people do not become ill as often
as those who suffer from stress and depression. Animal companionship
lowers a person's blood pressure and cholesterol levels. And studies
show that having a dog increases survival rates in groups of patients
who have suffered cardiac arrest. Simply put, pets aren't just good
friends, they are good medicine.”
http://www.powerpetsofbc.com/supportletters.html
http://www.powerpetsofbc.com/support/humanesociety.htm
A list of books pertaining to Animal Assisted Therapy
http://www.workingdogs.com/book031.htm

Prescibing Animals(!):
http://library.rider.edu/scholarly/rlackie/Invisible/Inv_Web.html

doggirl, you asked for studies with a Canadian perspective, but the
majority of studies I found, were conducted in Australia and the US,
even with pawing through the Canadian Google,   ://www.google.ca/
. I did, however include some pet-therapy articles and sites that are
Canadian based.

If any part of my answer is not totally clear, please ask for an
Answer Clarification before rating.

Regards,
crabcakes 
-------------

Thanks for the info. I apprecaite the well rounded approach. I wish
there were more Canadian stats - but I think they aren't here because
they don't exist - not because you couldn't find them. In Canada, we
seem to be a little behind in putting our research into animal
therapy. Good answers to a tough question. Thanks!