COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Monty, a more-than-cute Jack Russell terrier, didn't exactly save Joan Bourell's life, but he sure made it better. Since getting the dog last spring, the 77-year-old Colorado Springs, Colo., woman has lost 32 pounds and her diabetes has stabilized, thanks to the six daily walks she takes around her apartment complex with Monty.

   Joan Bourell spends time with Monty, her two-year-old Jack Russell terrier, at her apartment in Colorado Springs, Colorado, October 8, 2007. A new Humane Society program pairs elderly people with animal companions, as well as $400 per year, to assist in the care of their new friends.

   And, she says, "I'm not lonely anymore."

   The arrangement is made even sweeter by the fact that Bourell - a retired drapery seamstress who lives on Social Security - doesn't have to pay for most of Monty's upkeep. She got Monty compliments of the new Senior Citizens Pet Companionship Program, which is administered by the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region, in Colorado.

   The program not only gives free pets to qualifying low-income seniors 60 and older, it provides a subsidy of $400 per dog or $300 per cat each year of the pet's life. The money comes from a special donation fund and covers health care and food for the pets.

   The subsidies aren't usually enough to cover the entire cost of pet ownership, but for many low-income seniors, it can make the difference between having a pet or not.

   "I could not have afforded to get him and keep him if it wasn't for the program," Bourell says.

   The program was started with funding from Buz and Sue Rieger. Buz Rieger, a retired banker and college economics teacher, says he knows how pets can keep a person going. His wife's sister was lonely after her pet died, and when they got her another, she perked up. And at 77, he still hikes with his Labrador retrievers, even though he's has had two hip replacements and back surgery.

   The Riegers' donation will cover the care of 18 animals over three years, but the Humane Society hopes to get more donations to cover 60 animals for their lifetimes.

   "With help, this program could even grow to provide 100 pets a month to seniors," Buz Rieger says. "That would be 1,200 animals a year. That's a lot of loving homes and happy seniors."

   The seniors are shown mostly older, well-trained and sometimes more-sedentary dogs or cats that fit in better with their lifestyles. Once the seniors get their pet, they have to demonstrate that it's getting its vaccinations and twice-a-year health exams. If their pet dies, they can get another one under the program. If the owner dies, the subsidy is transferred to a family member. If the survivors don't want the pet, it's returned to the shelter.

   "It's not only great for senior owners but also for older pets that deserve a good home," says program director Jeanette Pohl.

   The benefits to the owner accrue physically, mentally and emotionally.

   "The program is a great idea," says Lorann Stallones, a professor of epidemiology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo.

   Stallones is an expert on the effect of companion animals on human health. She says pets can help lower their owners' blood pressure and create a comforting routine for people whose lives have been disrupted by aging or the death of a spouse.

   Those who have pets also end up having more social interaction with others, primarily because when they take the pet for a walk, people talk to them, Stallones says.

   That's what Bourell discovered after she got Monty, shortly after her 13-year-old miniature poodle, Buffy, died in the spring. She and daughter Lorilei Bourell learned about the program when they took Buffy to the Humane Society to handle burial arrangements.

   Joan Bourell wandered up and down the aisles looking at dogs and cats, not really intending to get one. But then, she saw Monty.

   "It was love at first sight," says Bourell, who has been a widow for seven years. She completed the qualifying paperwork and took Monty home.

   "I don't worry so much about mom now," says her daughter, who works and can't visit her mother during the day.

   Bourell says the little dog has become a hit with her neighbors, some of whom bring him toys.

   "I get up earlier now to walk him. And he knows everybody and everybody knows him," she says. "And I talk to a lot of other people walking with their dogs."

   Bourell got her first dog when she was 11 years old. But Monty is extra-special, she says, because he came along at a time when she is not as active as she used to be. She also feels safer because Monty lets out soft little barks when he hears something unusual.

   She, in turn, is teaching him that people can be kind. She believes he might have been abused because he trembles when he sees a newspaper.

   "I tell him not to worry about it."

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