Why people love pets

Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by teagan from AL. teagan Wonders, “Why are only certain animals our pets?” Thanks for WONDERing with us, teagan!

Do you have a dog at home? If so, you know that special feeling you get when you arrive home after a long day of school to be greeted with a wagging tail and a few excited licks to the face. When you experience the unconditional love of a dog, you know why the dog is called “man's best friend."

Maybe you have a cat at home instead. When you're down in the dumps, your furry and purr-y friend is sure to be there to snuggle up beside you to let you know everything is going to be just fine. Cats make great cuddle buddies any time of the day.

Perhaps you have some other type of pet. Whether it's a fish, a turtle, a bird, a snake, a rabbit, a guinea pig, a horse, a sheep, or a chicken, a pet simply makes life better. But have you ever stopped to WONDER why we keep pets in the first place?

Of course, if you have a pet, you can probably think of several good reasons right off the top of your head. But how did this whole keeping pets business get started in the first place?

No one knows for sure when the first animals were domesticated. Domestication means taming an animal to live alongside a human being as a pet. Historians note that humans have always developed close associations with animals, so the first pets were probably domesticated thousands of years ago.

In fact, the first domesticated pets were probably animals tamed to be living tools. Although we might not think of pets as tools, early humans certainly did. In addition to providing a source of food, animals could provide many other things, including labor, milk, and clothing.

For example, an ox could help an early farmer plow a field. Cows could give milk, and their hides could be used for clothing. Sheep could be sheared for wool to make clothing. If you think about the variety of farm animals that exist, you can easily see how animals can be very useful living tools.

Horses were probably domesticated early on as a source of transportation. If you've ever spent time around a horse, though, you know that they're beautiful, majestic creatures that can quickly capture your heart. When humans work closely with animals, bonds form. These bonds lead to humans viewing animals as much more than just tools.

Although early humans may have first sought to domesticate animals as living tools, they surely recognized the other benefits of animals as pets that we still see today. Pets are comforting companions. They keep us healthy and relieve stress. They play and show us love. They keep us from being lonely.

In the United States, we love our pets! Recent studies suggest that almost 75 million families in the U.S. have at least one pet. That means over 60% of us have pets. The most popular pets are dogs and cats. Studies show that there are more families with dogs than cats, but the total number of pet cats outnumbers dogs. In fact, pets outnumber children by a ratio of four to one in the U.S.

Posted at 08:00h in Pet Behavior by Julie Meisler 0 Comments

Why we love our pets so much is not easily explained. When our pets look into our eyes, we see nothing but love reflected back at us. Our pets are like our children. We share a mutual devoted affection with them. But why? Has this relationship evolved over thousands of years or is it a relatively recent development?

Evidence exists that dogs were domesticated between 13,000 and 30,000 years ago. History indicates dogs are the most ancient animal companion to humans. Evidence uncovered in archaeological sites tells us early domestic dogs helped early humans hunt mammoths. Artwork uncovered from approximately 10,000 years ago includes drawings of dogs leading scientists to believe dogs were admired and perhaps even loved.

Scientists discovered an ancient cemetery in Siberia in 2016 which revealed 5,000 to 8,000 year old dogs buried next to humans. Clive Wynne the director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University has devoted his life to studying the evolutionary relationship between animals and people and believes this is a significant discovery. Wynne explains, “You get dog burials, which show there was a lot of care and attention paid to the burial and they include grave goods (valuable items placed in the grave for use in the afterlife), which really seems like there was a strong indication of affection.”

The evolution of dogs and wolves suggests dogs started out as wolves who scavenged. Over time humans became more comfortable around dogs as did dogs around humans. As the relationship evolved, dogs were allowed into homes and began hunting with people.

While dogs evolved to being companions of human hunter gatherers, cats evolved to being farmers’ pets. The Natufians who are responsible for inventing agriculture inhabited the Levant about 13,000 to 10,000 years ago. They are also credited with being the first to recognize the usefulness of cats in helping to eradicate grain-loving mice.

Early cats were unlike those we know today. They were more similar to today’s urban foxes which easily adapt to our human environment while still retaining a certain degree of wildness. Cats lovely soft fur and ability to demonstrate affection towards humans are attractive characteristics which may have played a role in humans eventually adopting them as pets.

For both dogs and cats, their domestication may have started with their behavior. As they became more tame they were better able to adapt to human environments. As humans became more involved with selective breeding, characteristics we find most appealing in pets including cute features, a desire to cuddle and a cooperative nature were accentuated. As a result, early dogs and cats evolved into the pets we love today.

While this helps explains the evolution of early dogs and cats from wild animals to pets, it doesn’t explain why we love our pets so much. Clive Wynne believes it is not necessarily because of their utility. Most dogs are not used for hunting partners. Many cats aren’t chasing mice out of grain. As Wynne notes, “My own dog, who I love out of all proportion, is utterly and completely useless.”

Many theories exist about why we love our pets so much. One theory is pet ownership is good for physical and mental health. Another is that social factors rather than biological ones explain our love for pets. Still another one is that a social contagion occurs when we see others with pets. Wynne allowed perhaps there isn’t a scientific reason why pets are loved with such abandon. Maybe according to Wynne, the reason is simple: we love pets because of their childlike characteristics, as well as the fact they are unable to survive on their own. That sounds about right. Everyone loves soft and helpless things. But even better is the unconditional love we receive from our pets in return.