Animal Lovers

WHY PEOPLE CARE MORE ABOUT PETS THAN OTHER HUMANs WE LOVE OUR  pets. Two thirds of Americans live with an animal, and according to a 2011 Harris poll, 90 percent of pet owners think of their dogs and cats as members of the family. These relationships have benefits. For example, in a survey by the American Animal Hospital Association, 40 percent of married female dog owners reported they received more emotional support from their pet than from their husband or their kids. The pet products industry calls this “the humanization of pets.” One of my colleagues recently spent $12,000 on cancer treatments for her best friend Asha, a Labrador retriever. HAL HERZOG ABOUT Hal Herzog is Professor of Psychology of at Western Carolina University and author of  Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard To Think Straight About Animals . He writes the blog "Animals and Us" for  Psychology Today  magazine. Newspaper editors ...