Pet culture

Key takeaways

Pet culture belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pet culture to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pet culture from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pet culture refers to the culture revolving around the interaction of humans and pets.

Pet culture in the United States Modern-day Western society has integrated animals into everyday life. Today, American families increasingly include indoor, non-working companion animals under the "family" umbrella. Pets are often posted in photos and videos on owners' social media, with the relationship between sharing and watching generating increased interest in pet ownership. This increase has impacted cat and dog populations within broader society, especially from the mid-1960s onward in America. An average of 63% of American households have one pet, while 45% have multiple. The increased prevalence of pets has yielded greater demand on the American veterinarian supply. Before the 1900s, pet ownership was restricted to upper social classes with the income to care for them. With modern-day technology and medicine, the average lifespan of pets has lengthened. Indoor cats, on average, live 13–14 years. Indoor dogs, on average, live 6–10 years. Pet-keeping can be cost-heavy. Throughout the life of an average pet in the United States, the owner may spend between $8,000 and $13,000. Pets may be kept for companionship or as working animals, among other reasons.

Pets in the workplace Pets have also gained more popularity in places of employment. 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. In addition to office pets, there are also pet-friendly work environments, where employees can bring their pets from home to work with them. 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. 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. 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.

Popular pets in the United States

Dogs

In the United States, the estimate of households that have dogs as a pet is about 69 million. Dog ownership reportedly can improve mental illness, along with feelings of loneliness and distress. In the past, humans owned dogs for work purposes. Small dogs were used to scare off pests, while larger dogs were used for protection and identifying danger. Other important jobs that people have used dogs for include hunting for game, search and rescue for missing persons, herding of livestock, and serving as therapy dogs for people. Currently, however, most dogs serve as companions to their owners rather than being working animals.

Cats

In the United States, there is an estimated 45.3 million households that own a cat. In the past, humans owned cats for work purposes. The most common job for cats was 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. Another job cats have been known to perform for humans is serving as therapy cats for people. The breed of cat, its character, and its history impacts their behavior.

Rodents In the United States, there is an estimated 5.3 million households that have rodents as pets. Rats have been used for work purposes such as bomb detection, laying computer link cables, or serving as therapy animals for people. 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.

Birds In the United States, an estimated 6 million households own birds. 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.

Fishes

In the United States, an estimated 11.8 million households own a fish. People that rent living spaces sometimes cannot own dogs or cats due to their lease containing rules against pets or their lease requiring a monthly fee be paid (known also as "pet rent") in order to have an animal. Thus, fish ownership is popular among those who live in rented spaces, since most leases allow fish as pets. Fish ownership is also popular among those with health conditions and/or allergies that prevent them from owning dogs or cats. Owning a fish can include risk of bacterial infection, but this can be prevented with proper cleaning of aquariums and care of the fish. Those that do own a fish with an aquarium believe it has beneficial properties, such as relaxation and a distraction from everyday life.

Social cost of pet owning 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. Cats are carriers of Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that enters the brain and may cause toxoplasmosis. Pets are also known to cause people allergies. They could also trigger an asthma attack, for those who are allergic.

See also Pet humanization Pet culture in Japan Pet culture in South Korea Pet culture in North Korea Pet industry 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

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pet culture

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pet culture claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pet culture before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pet culture ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pet culture

In research: Pet culture appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pet culture in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pet culture is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Culture, Pets, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pet culture outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Pet culture in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pet culture means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pet culture out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pet culture in simple terms?

Pet culture refers to the culture revolving around the interaction of humans and pets. Pet culture in the United States Modern-day Western society has integrated animals into everyday life.

Why does Pet culture matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pet culture?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pet culture.