At 101 years old, Helen Macura can’t have a real dog, but her animatronic pet, Friendly, gives her all of the companionship with none of the responsibility.

“I’m not alone. There's somebody in the house with me, somebody that I can go and speak to them and say 'Good morning, friendly. How are you today?' I think get the feeling that you're talking to something or somebody, even they do not respond, but they just look at you," Macura said.

What You Need To Know

  • The New York State Office for the Aging started the animatronic pet program back in 2018 and since then has given 31,000 animatronic pets to older adults across New York

  • Social isolation and loneliness can have serious health impacts — according to the National Council on Aging, it puts older adults at risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, depression and even Alzheimer’s; the council also cites research that says loneliness can increase the risk of mortality by 50%

  • The program is expanding and has been replicated in more than 30 states

The New York State Office for the Aging started the animatronic pet program back in 2018.

“So I created a pilot with 14 counties. We bought 30 cats, 30 dogs. We did a social isolation screen prior to adoption of the pets. And then at three months, six months and 12 months. And what we found is a 75% reduction in loneliness, isolation and depression and pain. After one year of receiving the pets," says Greg Olsen, the director of the Office for Aging.

Social isolation and loneliness can have serious health impacts. According to the National Council on Aging, it puts older adults at risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, depression and even Alzheimer’s. The council also cites research that says loneliness can increase the risk of mortality by 50%.

“I can't make a human being show up at a lonely and isolated person's house. I just can't do that. We try to find ways to keep people engaged, but not everybody's going to have that. So we have a lot of these types of tools," Olsen said.

As of June 2024, NYSOFA has distributed over 31,000 animatronic pets to older adults across New York and the program is rapidly expanding. It’s also been replicated in more than 30 states.