The basic meaning of ‘pet’ is an animal we keep for emotional rather than economic reasons. A pet animal is kept as a companion, and we all need companions to keep us feeling happy. But pets offer us more than mere companionship; they invite us to love and be loved. Many owners feel their pets understand them, for they are quick to sense anger and sorrow. Often a pet cat or dog can comfort us at times when human words don’t help. We feel loved, too, by the way pets depend on us for a home, for food and drink. Dogs especially, look up to their owners, which makes them feel important and needed.

A pet can something different to each members of the family, another baby to the mother, a sister or a brother to an only child, a grandchild to the elderly, but for all of us pets provide  pleasure and companionship. It has even been suggested that tiny pets should be sent as companions to astronauts on spaceships, to help reduce the stress and loneliness of space flights.

In this Plastic Age, when most of us live in large cities, pets are particularly important for children. A pet in the family keeps people in touch with the more natural, animal world. Seeing an animal give birth brings understanding of the naturalness of childbirth, and seeing a pet die helps a child to cope with sorrow. Learning to care for a pet helps a child to grow up into a loving adult who feels responsible towards those dependent on him. Rightly we teach children to be good to the pets. They should learn too, that pets are good for us human beings.