Human beings have kept companion animals for thousands of years. They are the animals taken out of the wild–either recently or long ago– that we invite into our homes, our families, our lives. They can be dogs, cats, birds, pigs, rabbits, small mammals, reptiles, or fish. We do not join our lives for reasons of utility– they do not end up on our dinner plates, nor do they plow our fields or pull our sleds. They are animals with whom we build a relationship that should include love, mutual respect, companionship, a sense of kinship, protectiveness, sensitivity to each other’s needs, and responsibility.
Although we are a nation of animal owners, we are not always a nation of animal lovers and respecters. In truth many people view animals as possessions and toys, as fashion accessories, as hierarchically lower and less valuable creatures. This lack of respect for the value of other forms of life lowers the value our society places on the bond we have with the animals we live with and love.
As we look around at the degradation of our planet we are beginning to face our failure in stewardship of our living environment. We are just scratching the surface of our interdependency with all forms of life. We are very slowly beginning to make a place of value for our kinship with other living beings.
Research has shown that companion animals have a unique and therapeutic value for many populations: shut-ins, people living alone, the terminally ill, the bereaved, chronically ill children and adults, people in institutions and prisons, and many others. We know that living with animals lowers blood pressure and prolongs life after heart attack. We are seeing their value to us in practical terms.
We are also finally beginning to document scientifically what those of us who love animals have always known: that a relationship with an animal is good for you, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and socially.
There are many ways that relationships with animals can restore something desperately missing in our modern lives: the quality of soul, the connection to our own animal nature, and our ability to love and be loved.
Many people today are feeling a strong sense of separation and alienation from the natural world both inside and outside of themselves. Many of us are cut off from our bodies and our own animality. Many people live in urban centers where we are lucky to see a blade of grass, let alone animal life. And even those who live in rural settings often experience nature only as it is tailored into service for humankind. Many of us– consciously or unconsciously–experience relationships with companion animals as a bridge back to that sense of kinship and connection to the natural world.
Over the years there have been significant changes in the population patterns in our society. Today, more people are living alone and not marrying. Families are smaller and more spread out. More couples are remaining childless. Many children are home alone. People are living to a much older age, too often spending their last years isolated from others. Animal companions are beginning to play greater roles in people’s lives as the significant others for many different groups of people.
For many people today a significant relationship with an animal fills many emotional and social voids. Many view a pet as a companion, a partner, a fellow traveler, a surrogate child or parent, or a buffer against the coldness of loneliness and isolation. In a changing world, rather than a sign of dysfunction, it is a mark of health that a person can find love and relationship satisfaction with an animal. It is a precious gift.
As a society, we have tended to look upon the relationship with a companion animal as a second-class relationship: a poor man’s version of a human-human relationship. It is time that we recognize that love is love, whether with a human or non-human animal. In fact there are features of the love with a companion animal that put it in a class of its own–special qualities of relatedness that are difficult to find in a consistent way in a relationship with another human being.
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