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Emily Deck
Mrs. Park
English 106
4/15/14
Pets: Family Members or Animals?
Do you own a pet? Do you know what percentage of people in the U.S. own pets? Ann
Cain, author of the article Pets as Family Members, states, approximately 60% of American
families share their homes with one or more companion animals (5). In comparison to that
percentage, do you know what percentage of those pet owners refer to their pets as family
members? The majority (68%) indicated that pets were considered full family members, 30%
said they were close friends, and 96% described their role in the family as very important (Cain
6). In our society today, pets are becoming an essential part of the average family. However,
some argue that pets are just animals while others believe that they are family members. It turns
out pets are capable of fulfilling certain roles that would constitute them as a family member.
Here at Purdue, I am studying animal sciences and pre-veterinary studies. In my department, this
topic is brought up and debated because some of us grew up in the suburbs with companion
animals while the others grew up on a farm with animals raised as food sources. In this research
paper, I am going to be discussing why people believe their pets to be members of the family and
why they should be considered as such.
So what exactly is a pet? In our society, pets are commonly referred to as companion
animals. This is because people own pets primarily for companionship. In certain situations,
people may not have children or are alone due to the death of a loved one. In order to overcome
their loneliness, people will have a companion animal in order to keep them company.
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According to Froma Walsh, Companion animals provide socioemotional support that facilitates
coping, recovery, and resilience (482). Owning a pet in a situation like this is like having
another family member there with you. Whenever you lose a family member you are supported
and taken care of by another family member. The same is said with a pet. They are there for your
own personal comfort and are great at helping to ease your pain. This is one reason why pets
should be termed as a family member.
While pets are great at keeping you company, how else can they act as a family member?
Many people believe that a pet is only used for companionship and is not capable of doing
human-stuff. However, studies have shown that parents with small children and pets were able
to teach their children to become more responsible for things. Families who own pets tend to
have an easier time teaching their children during development to understand what it is like to
take care of something. These children are taught how to take care of the pet by feeding it,
grooming it, cleaning up after it, and playing with it. A simple example of this would be by using
the analogy that a pet is like a child, and the human child is like a mother. Just as a mother
demonstrates responsible behaviors of caretaking with her child, a child learns this behavior by,
in turn, demonstrating caretaking behavior with the pet. The pet helps to facilitate learning in the
child.
Another family member role that pets can assume is protection of the family unit. Pets,
especially dogs, are great at offering protection. Who in your family provides protection?
Usually it is your parents or maybe an older sibling. However, pets are also a main source of
protection. Many people dont realize that animals have this special ability where they are able to
sense if something is wrong. There are multiple stories on the internet that talk about incidents
where pets ended up saving their owners due to the fact that they were able to sense something
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was wrong. These stories include pets knowing when there is a fire, when someone is sick, when
babies are in trouble, or when there is an intruder. In the article, Pet Saviors: 11 Animals Who
Saved Human Lives, it describes eleven miraculous events where animals saved their owners
lives. One of the stories was about how a kitten in Montana was able to warn her family that
there was a gas leak that had occurred in their basement. The article states how the basement was
full of fumes and that the house was close to exploding in flames because the furnace decided to
kick in (Coffey). Froma Walsh, the author of Human-Animal Bonds II: The Role of Pets in
Family Systems and Family Therapy, conducted a study in order to research how strong human-
animal bonds were and how pets played important roles in the family. She conducted multiple
surveys for her research asking pet owners common questions. In her study she found that,
When there was a family crisis or high anxiety, 81% said their pets showed strong reactions in
hyperactivity, restlessness, and anxiety (Walsh 485). Many families in the U.S. feel safer in
their home knowing that they have extra protection. In this situation a pet is a family member
because they are offering protection for the family just like a parent would.
Another topic in this debate is that animals are only used for work and therefore arent
considered family members. This is partially understandable. However, even if animals are
working they can still be a member of the family. One main example is therapy animals. Therapy
animals are known for helping patients cope with anxiety and stress as well as providing
comfort. Therapy dogs are well known for bringing a smile to patients faces and brightening
their day. In general they make people happy. Even though these animals are technically
working animals they are still doing more than just working. Pets are just like therapy animals
in that if you are stressed or sad, your own pet is there for you and comforts you. Many people
say that their pet is able to sense when they are sad and therefore sit closer to that person. Walsh
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stated that in a study Ann Cain provided, Family members reported that their pets were tuned
in to their feelings whether happiness, excitement, tension, sadness, or anger (Walsh 484). Just
as we can sense when someone is sad or angry, so can our pets. This is yet another reason why
pets should be considered family members.
Finally, another reason why pets should be considered family members is that we already
are treating them like human children. Many people refer to their pets as their babies including
me. Also people have been known to spoil their pets whether it is by giving them extra attention
or constantly giving them treats and toys. In my family, our dog is treated like a princess. She is
groomed once a month and she sleeps in bed with us. When it is cold out she wears a little coat
and she is given table scraps. However people treat their pets like babies even more than my
family does with our dog. A lot of people that own smaller breeds will dress their pets up with
cute sweaters and coats as well as carrying them around in their purses. Pets are commonly
included in family rituals and ceremonies. Most families buy holiday presents for them, as well
as gifts from their pets to other family members (Walsh 483). They are also given a lot of
attention as if they were a baby. Cain reported in her findings that, When asked who got the
most strokes or recognition (physical touch, look, word, smile, gesture, or other act of
acknowledgement) in the family, 37% said their spouse, 33% said their children, and 30% said
their pet ( Cain 8). So if we already treat our pets like children then we should go ahead and call
them a family member instead of a companion animal.
Pets are more than just companion animals. According to several nationwide surveys
about 90% of pet owners describe their pets as important cherished family members (Allen 1).
In todays society pets are capable of being companions, protectors, teachers, and supporters.
Our pets are considered to be very supporting and helpful companions when it comes to stress
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and anxiety. They are capable of allowing children to develop by taking responsibility of their
pet. They serve as great protectors of the family and they are loyal and comforting. Pets should
be considered family members because they assume many of the common roles that a human
family member holds. So the next time you interact with your pet, just remember that they are
just as much a part of the family as you are.
Works Cited
Allen, Karen. "Are Pets a Healthy Pleasure? The Influence of Pets on Blood Pressure." Current
Directions in Psychological Sciences. Sage Publications, 1 Dec 2003. Web. 16 Apr 2014.
Summary: This article is talking about how studies have shown that pets do in fact influence
blood pressure. It discusses why pets are great stress relievers as well as why they are known to
be helpful in places like nursing homes and hospitals. The article talks about specific studies and
the results they found concluding that animals can influence a persons health including their
blood pressure.
Assessment: I found this article to be very helpful and resourceful. I mainly thought it was
helpful to find an article that talks about studies that were found proving that animals can help
with your health. I think it is an efficient article because of all the references listed as well as the
in-text citations used in this article.
Reflection: I found this article to be very interesting to read. In my paper I talk about how
animals can help to be great stress relievers and comforters just like in this article.
Bergland, Christopher. "Why Do Adult Dogs Become Like Human Children to Owners?."
Psychology Today. N.p., 22 June 2013. Web. 6 Apr 2014.
Bulcroft, Kris. "Pets in the American Family." 8.4 (1990): 13-14. Web. 6 Apr. 2014.
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Summary: In this article Bulcroft talks about the research he conducted about pets in the
American family. He talks about the different scenarios where people consider their pets to be
family members and how they influence the family. He also talks about whether or not pets
should be considered family members.
Assessment: I found this article to be somewhat helpful. It wasnt a very long article and it didnt
list any references. I did think it was useful to read from someone elses perspective on whether
or not pets should be considered as family members.
Reflection: I liked this article only because it talked about different stories where people talked
about how their pets influenced them. However I wished that this article was longer and had
more information about his actual procedures he took to research this topic.
Cain, Ann Ottney. "Pets as Family Members." Marriage and Family Review. 8 (2008): 3-4, 5-10.
Summary: In this article, Ann Cain discusses two different research projects that she conducted
about how people feel about their pets. She did research to see how families treat their pets and
how they incorporate their pets in their lives in order to find the role that pets play in families.
She also discusses the results that she found when she conducted her research.
Assessment: This article is a very helpful and scholarly article. This article contains multiple in-
site sources from other articles as well as credible sources cited. This is a very credible source
because it contains various citations from other scholarly articles and it is a very well organized
article. It also is a very credible cite because I found it through the Purdue University libraries
website.
Reflection: In general this article is a very helpful article because it discusses my topic through
another persons perspective. I found this article to be useful because I was able to use a lot of
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the information and data from this article in my paper. The data from this article will definitely
help me argue my position.
Coffey, Laura. "Pet Saviors: 11 Animals Who Saved Human Lives." Today Pets and Animals.
MSNBC Interactive. Web. 21 Apr 2014.
Summary: In this web article, the author lists 11 different stories of when animals saved their
owners lives. These stories include animals alerting their owners that the house is on fire or
smelling a gas leak. It also talks about how animals are able to sense and understand things when
people are in need of help.
Assessment: I thought this was a very useful article because one of my points in my paper is how
animals are great protectors. This article lists 11 true stories of when animals saved their humans
which shows that this article is very resourceful.
Reflection: I found this article to be extremely helpful because I was able to use an in-text
citation from this article. The article gave me stories to help give more emphasis on how
important my point was. It was a great article to use when it came to giving examples of when
animals performed these heroic tasks as well as how animals are on protection duty all the time.
Phillips Cohen, Susan. "Can Pets Function as Family Members?." Western Journal of Nursing
Research. N.p., 01 Oct 2002. Web. 6 Apr 2014.
Summary: This article mainly discusses whether or not pets should be considered as family
members. This article talks about a study that was done where they handed out questionnaires
asking if they were attached to their pets and considered them as family members. They also
tested different scenarios to see if certain characteristics about a person caused them to think pets
were family members.
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Assessment: This article is definitely a scholarly article. When using google scholar, this article
was listed under the top results about my topic. This article describes and defines what family
means and how animals fit into that definition. This article includes the tests and results they
took when they researched if pets should be considered family members. It is a very useful
article in that the author works for the Animal Medical Center in New York, New York and it
also lists the controversies involved with this topic.
Reflection: I personally think this article will be very helpful for me when writing my paper
because the entire article talks about my controversial topic. I think it is a very good and
scholarly article that efficiently discusses the tests and studies they took to see if people thought
pets should be family members or not.
Walsh, Froma. "Human-Animal Bonds II: The Role of Pets in Family Systems and Family
Therapy." Family Process. 48.4 (2009): 481-499. Web.
Summary: This article discusses the benefits and roles of pets in the family. It also discusses how
the role of pets in families and therapy help needs to be studied and researched more. It also talks
about why pets are beneficial whenever there are family problems like divorce and personality
disorders in children. It talks about how pets help influence and impact children who have
disabilities as well as in therapy.
Assessment: This article is also a scholarly article because I found it under the Wiley Online
Library from Purdue University. It is a very useful article in that it lists the pros about pets as
family members as well as stating the effects of what happens to families when they lose their
pets. This article also contains many in site citations from other reliable sources as well as three
full pages of references at the end of the article. The author of this article also has a Ph.D.
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Reflection: I think this article is going to be a great resource for me because it discusses all the
benefits of having a pet which is what I am going to use to strengthen my argument. It also talks
about the side effects of when a family loses their pet which is another portion that I am going to
write about in my paper.