Pets are more popular than ever. About two-thirds of American homes have at least one pet, up from 56 percent in 1988, according to the American Pet Products Association, and Americans will spend $136.8 billion on their pets in 2022, up from $123.6 billion in 2021. An estimated 91 million households in Europe have at least one pet, an increase of 20 million over the past decade. India’s pet population to reach 31 million in 2021, up from 10 million in 2011.
And our pets are getting more and more alike – or at least, that seems to be our goal. We pamper them with personalized meal plans and backpacks, dog hydrotherapy and boutique cat hotel stays. At All the Best, an upscale chain of pet stores in Seattle, the most popular items are cat and dog enrichment toys designed to stimulate and bring happiness to animals who are increasingly “lying around and getting bored,” Annie said. McCall. marketing director of the chain.
Now some animal welfare ethicists and veterinary scientists are wondering whether, in our efforts to humanize our pets, we have gone too far. The more we treat pets like people, they argue, the more limited and dependent our pets’ lives become, and the more health and behavioral problems our pets develop.
“Now we see pets not only as family members but as equivalent to children,” said James Sherpel, professor emeritus of animal ethics and welfare at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. “The problem is that dogs and cats are not children and owners are becoming more and more protective and restrictive. So the animals are not able to express their own canine and feline nature as freely as they could.”
Health risks naturally begin with reproduction. One of the most popular dog breeds in the United States is the French Bulldog, a member of the brachycephalic family of flat-faced dogs that get along well with people but have difficulty breathing, among other serious health problems.
But we are also changing our animals’ relationship with their environment. Because of concerns about bird predation, many cats now spend their entire lives inside. By the late 1970s, even city dogs spent most of their time outdoors, either in yards or roaming the neighborhood. Now, said Jessica Pierce, a bioethicist in Colorado whose work focuses on animal-human relationships, “the unleashed and loose dog is seen as against the natural order.”
One of the fastest growing segments of the market is the so-called pet containment sector, which includes crates and indoor fencing, as well as head harnesses and electronic collars. “The level of restraint that dogs face is profound,” Dr Pearce said. Although several decades ago dogs were more likely to be hit by cars, he added, “those risks have been offset by the freedom of experience and movement.”
The modern pet paradox, in a nutshell: “Owners don’t want dogs to act like dogs.” Dr. Sherpel said.
While dogs are allowed in an ever-increasing number of human spaces—restaurants, offices, stores, hotels, as well as more parks with designated dog runs—their increasing presence does not translate into greater independence.
Confinement and isolation, in turn, have caused an increase in animals’ separation anxiety and aggression, Dr. Sherpel said. About 60 percent of cats and dogs are now overweight or obese. And in part because of the burden and expense of modern pet ownership — vet fees, pet passengers, boarding fees — more people are abandoning animals to animal shelters, leading to higher euthanasia rates. In 2023, more than 359,000 dogs were euthanized in shelters, a five-year high, according to Shelter Animals Count, an animal advocacy group.
“We’re in a strange moment of pet obsession,” said Dr. Pierce. “There are too many of them and we keep them very intensively. It’s not good for us and it’s not good for them.”
Granted, taming an animal has always meant striking a balance between its nature and our own. “Defining freedom in a dog, an animal that has been artificially domesticated and selected by humans for so long, is a really interesting puzzle,” said Alexandra Horowitz, a dog researcher at Barnard College.
He drew a contrast with free-range dogs, a category to which most of the world’s estimated 900 million dogs belong. Free-roaming canines have shorter lifespans and no guarantee of food, Dr. Horowitz noted, but they can make all their choices. “That’s an interesting model to look at — we’re thinking about how to make a dog’s life richer with choices so they’re not just captive to our whims all the time, while not endangering society at large,” he said.
In recent years, Scandinavian countries have begun to ban the breeding of certain dog breeds that are particularly prone to disease, such as the Cavalier King Charles spaniel. In Sweden it is illegal to leave pets alone at home for long periods of time. In both Sweden and Finland, keeping animals at home is illegal in most cases.
But whether these animal welfare policies compromise or reinforce the fundamental paradox of modern pet keeping is unclear, said Harold Herzog, a professor emeritus of psychology at Western Carolina University who studies animal-human relationships. “The more we see dogs and cats as autonomous creatures, the less we can justify keeping them as pets,” he said.
A few years ago, Dr. Herzog vacationed on the island of Tobago and spent much of the time watching the stray dogs roaming the landscape. “I asked myself, ‘Would I rather live in Manhattan as a pampered dog, or would I rather be a dog in Tobago and hang out with my friends?’ said Dr. Herzog. And he concluded: “I’d rather be a dog in Tobago.”
This is not a practical option for most people or necessarily a good one for the Tobagos of the world. Instead, for the modern pet owner, Dr. Sherpel offered this advice: “Enjoy your dog’s company by all means. But dogs are not people. Get to know the animal from its perspective instead of forcing it to conform to yours. It enables you to vicariously experience the life of another being.”
