What purpose do pets serve?

[DrPizza]

As a breeder, one of the reasons for pets is to make a little money on the side. Plus, the extra work gives me something to do, and helps keep me in shape more naturally. I'm probably unique in that I have a lot of goats as pets, and a lot of cats that are NOT pets. Every one of the goats has a name. Many of the baby goats are allowed in the house in the morning while I'm fixing their bottles for them. (I hand feed a 24oz bottle of milk to each of 18 baby goats three times a day.) They're like children almost, except they're a lot more relaxing to have around. The cats? Cuddles (a ragdoll cat) is allowed in the house; in fact, not allowed to go outside. Sam and Fuzzy Gray Cat are the only two cats with names; if you'd consider "Fuzzy Gray Cat" to be a name. I'd probably feel bad if Sam or Fuzzy Gray Cat got run over by a school bus; but I wouldn't care less about the other cats (4 or 5), except for the scraping them off the road part. Though, they get plenty of food, water, etc., and I wouldn't intentionally harm one. In fact, I broke a window on my old van to get one out that managed to lock itself inside (with the keys in the ignition & spare keys in the van.) It was 90+ degrees and sunny outside, and I didn't have time to screw around with a coat hanger.

 

[KeithTalent]

Unconditional love.

KT

 

[HardcoreRobot]

of course you can always make them do silly things and take funny pics of them too

 

[rh71]

I don't want to take care of kids. A dog is perfect for me. No babysitter no diapers. They just need food water and a little love.

I can see it that way if you don't have kids yet. Once you have your very own kids, it's not "just a responsibility". It's a different kind of love. Not the same for pets. We went through diapers for twins and I had to do so many of them but I think it's worth it. Way more than cleaning up dog crap.