pet culture

Modern day society has integrated animals into their everyday lives.{{Cite journal|last=Blouin|first=David D.|date=2012-10-23|title=Understanding Relations between People and their Pets|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2012.00494.x|journal=Sociology Compass|volume=6|issue=11|pages=856–869|doi=10.1111/j.1751-9020.2012.00494.x|issn=1751-9020}} Today, American families have said that their non-working, indoor animals are close enough to call them family.{{Cite book|last1=Serpell|first1=James A.|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195396690.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195396690-e-017|title=Pets in the Family: An Evolutionary Perspective|last2=Paul|first2=Elizabeth S.|date=2011-05-27|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=298|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195396690.013.0017}} Many owners post photos and videos of their pets on social media to entertain other animal lovers. The relationship between sharing and watching has shown an increase in interest for pet owning.{{Cite book|last=Fischer|first=Bob|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1111771459|title=The Routledge handbook of animal ethics|year=2020|isbn=978-1-138-09506-9|pages=291|oclc=1111771459}} This increase in pet owning has impacted cat and dog populations within the animal community. Within mid-1960’s century America, their population has grown an impeccable amount compared to the human population. An average of 63% of American households have one pet, while 45% have multiple. Increase in pets have impacted the increasing number of veterinarians.

Before the 1900’s, ownership of a pet was restricted to certain social classes who had the income to care for it.{{Cite web|last=Goudreau|first=Jenna|title=The Pet Culture|url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/10/15/pets-dogs-cats-forbes-woman-time-children.html|access-date=2022-01-22|website=Forbes|language=en}} With modern day technology and medicine, the average lifespan of pets has changed. Indoor cats, on average, will live up to 13–14 years.{{Cite journal|last=Caney|first=Sarah|date=2009|title=Weight Loss in the Elderly Cat: Appetite is Fine, and Everything Looks Normal …|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1016/j.jfms.2009.07.008|journal=Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery|volume=11|issue=9|pages=738–746|doi=10.1016/j.jfms.2009.07.008|pmid=19712892|s2cid=9994795|issn=1098-612X|url-access=subscription|pmc=11135492}} While indoor dogs, on average, will live up to 6–10 years.{{Cite journal|last1=Wallis|first1=Lisa J.|last2=Szabó|first2=Dóra|last3=Erdélyi-Belle|first3=Boglárka|last4=Kubinyi|first4=Enikö|date=2018-08-23|title=Demographic Change Across the Lifespan of Pet Dogs and Their Impact on Health Status|journal=Frontiers in Veterinary Science|volume=5|pages=200|doi=10.3389/fvets.2018.00200|issn=2297-1769|pmc=6115627|pmid=30191153|doi-access=free}} Pet-keeping can be cost heavy. Throughout the average life of a pet in the United States, the owner may spend on average between $8,000 to $13,000. Pets may be kept for either nothing more than companionship or to also serve as working animals.

Pets have also gained more popularity in places of employment.{{cite web | url=https://www.businessleader.co.uk/are-office-pets-becoming-the-norm/ | title=Are Office Pets Becoming the Norm? - Business Leader News | date=23 February 2022 }} Office pets are animals that live in or visit the workplace. Usually office pets belong to the company but may also be the personal pet of the CEO or owner, office manager, or another employee.{{cite web | url=https://teambuilding.com/blog/office-pets | title=14 Best Office Pets for Happy Workplaces | date=31 March 2021 }} In addition to office pets, there are also Pet-friendly work environments, where employees can bring their pets from home to work with them.{{cite web | url=https://blog.advesa.com/culture/office-pets-how-they-make-the-workplace-better/ | title=Office Pets - How They Make the Workplace Better | date=20 May 2020 }}

The practice of having office pets and/or pet-friendly work environments has been known to occur in big businesses, medium-sized businesses, and small businesses.{{cite web | url=https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2008/03/21/pets-in-the-office/ | title=Pets in the office: Legal issue for employers to consider | date=21 March 2008 }}{{cite web | url=https://theconversation.com/why-more-companies-are-going-dog-friendly-123405 | title=Why more companies are going dog friendly }} Reasons as to why a business would have an office pet include boosting employee morale, reducing stress and improving health, drawing in and recruiting new employees, improving communication and collaboration between coworkers, attracting customers and clients, and improving public relations between the business and the community.{{cite web | url=https://www.bondcollective.com/blog/office-pets/ | title=The Benefits of Office Pets and Why You Should Have One }} Additionally, business leaders have cited multiple advantages to having pet-friendly work environments such as improving company culture, boosting productivity, reducing employee turnover, boosting employer brand, improving employee satisfaction, boosting the mental and physical health of workers and giving employees more flexibility.{{cite web | url=https://figopetinsurance.com/blog/top-benefits-pet-friendly-workplace-according-business-leaders | title=The Top Benefits of a Pet-Friendly Workplace According to Business Leaders }}

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In the United States, the estimate of households that have dogs as pet is about 69 million.{{Cite web|title=Pet Industry Market Size, Trends & Ownership Statistics|url=https://www.americanpetproducts.org/|access-date=2022-02-05|website=American Pet Products Association}} Nowadays, owners that have dogs have considered them their best friend and a part of their family. Owners that have suffered from mental illness, loneliness, and distress have lightly eased with the help of their dogs. Human and dog relationships have now been more emotional than practical. In the past, humans owned dogs for work purpose. Small dogs were used to scare off pest, while larger dogs were used for protection and identify danger.{{Cite web|last=Mull|first=Amanda|date=2021-07-29|title=Why So Many Millennials Are Obsessed With Dogs|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/09/why-millennials-are-so-obsessed-with-dogs/619489/|access-date=2022-02-05|website=The Atlantic|language=en}} Other important jobs that people have used dogs to perform include, among other things, hunting for game, search and rescue for missing persons, herding of livestock and serving as therapy dogs for people.{{cite web | url=https://www.regain.us/advice/therapist/what-are-the-benefits-of-having-a-therapy-dog/ | title=What Are the Benefits of Having a Therapy Dog? | Regain }}

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In the United States, there is an estimate of 45.3 million households that own a cat. In the past, humans owned cats for work purposes. The most common job for cats is killing or scaring off vermin such as pigeons and rodents. Additionally, cats (particularly puppy cats) have also been used as protection animals for their owners.{{cite web | url=https://www.pawtracks.com/cats/cat-breeds-that-can-act-like-guard-cats/ | title=Cat Breeds That Can Act Like Guard Cats | date=20 April 2022 }}{{cite web | url=https://kittentoob.com/five-cat-breeds-that-behave-as-guard-cats/ | title=Five Cat Breeds That Behave as "Guard Cats" | date=28 September 2020 }} Another job cats have been known to perform for humans is serving as therapy cats for people.{{cite web | url=https://www.catsnap.org/info/display?PageID=18922 | title=Web Page }} Between cats and dogs, cats have been known to be the opposite of how dogs act. Cats are seen to be more independent and tend to themselves. Many believe that cats are only with humans for their own benefits, such as eating. Nowadays, this idea has changed as cats are known to change their performance based on how their owners act towards them. The type of cat, character, and its history impacts their behavior.{{Cite news|last=Nuwer|first=Rachel|author-link=Rachel Nuwer |date=2019-09-24|title=Cats Like People! (Some People, Anyway)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/science/cats-humans-bonding.html|access-date=2022-02-05|issn=0362-4331}}

In the United States, there is an estimate of 5.3 million households that have rodents as pets.{{cite news|url=https://paradepets.com/pet-news/oh-rats-why-the-rodents-are-becoming-increasingly-popular-pets|title=Oh, Rats! Why the Rodents Are Becoming Increasingly Popular Pets|website=Parade Pets|access-date=31 March 2023|date=5 April 2013|author=Kenneth Miller}} Additionally, rats have also been used for work purpose as well such as bomb detection, laying computer link cables or serving as therapy animals for people.{{cite web | url=https://www.healingwhiskers.com/2017/02/what-is-therapy-rat.html | title=What is a Therapy Rat? }} In the past, rodents were considered vermin that spread disease and were a threat to crops, as a result the practice of keeping small mammals as pets, is a relatively recent development, arising only after large-scale industrialization.

In the United States, there is an estimate of 6.0 million households that own birds.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thezebra.com/resources/research/pet-ownership-statistics/|title=Pet Ownership Statistics in 2023 | The Zebra|accessdate=31 March 2023}} As with other domestic animals, birds have been used to perform roles and tasks such as delivering messages, pigeon racing or falconry. Usually, ownership of birds requires an enclosure (such as a birdcages) or a tether (such as a jess) to keep the birds from getting loose.

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In the United States, an estimate of 11.8 million households who own a pet, own a fish. Humans that rent homes that cannot own dogs and/or cats look towards the option of owning a fish. This could also be true to those who have a serious health issue or extreme asthma. Owning a fish has little evidence of allergies, and overall extremely little danger compared to owning dogs or cats. There are bacterial risks, such as infection, when it comes to fish water, but can be prevented with proper cleaning care. Those that do own a fish with an aquarium believe it has beneficial properties, such as relaxation and a distraction from everyday life.{{Cite journal|last1=Clements|first1=Heather|last2=Valentin|first2=Stephanie|last3=Jenkins|first3=Nicholas|last4=Rankin|first4=Jean|last5=Baker|first5=Julien S.|last6=Gee|first6=Nancy|last7=Snellgrove|first7=Donna|last8=Sloman|first8=Katherine|date=2019-07-29|title=The effects of interacting with fish in aquariums on human health and well-being: A systematic review|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=14|issue=7|pages=e0220524|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0220524|issn=1932-6203|pmc=6663029|pmid=31356652|bibcode=2019PLoSO..1420524C|doi-access=free}}

Pet owning in America may cause trouble to the public. Owners may have to face the consequences of pets that misbehave. It may result in pressure and distress to their owners and nearby neighbors. Each year in the United States alone, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that an average of 4.5 million people are attacked by a dog. Within those attacks, around 900,000 of them are serious and need immediate attention. Many pets are also known to carry diseases. Dogs, one of the most common pets in America, are known to transmit rabies to humans primarily through biting.{{Cite journal|last1=Ghasemzadeh|first1=I|last2=Namazi|first2=SH|date=2015|title=Review of bacterial and viral zoonotic infections transmitted by dogs|journal=Journal of Medicine and Life|volume=8|issue=Spec Iss 4|pages=1–5|issn=1844-122X|pmc=5319273|pmid=28316698}} Cats are carriers of Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that enters the brain and may cause toxoplasmosis.{{Cite web|date=2016-02-19|title=The health benefits and risks of pet ownership|url=https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-health-benefits-and-risks-of-pet-ownership|access-date=2022-02-08|website=Harvard Health|language=en}} Pets are also known to cause people allergies. They could also trigger an asthma attack, for those who are allergic.

• Pet humanization
• Pet culture in Japan
• Pet culture in Korea
• Pet industry
• Dogfree movement
• Pet ownership among the homeless
• Self-domestication
• List of domesticated animals
• Backyard breeder
• Leash
• Animal training
• Animal-assisted therapy
• Classroom pet
• Pet–friendly hotels
• Pet-friendly dormitories

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Category:Pets

Category:Culture