Passage 1
Humanlike animal behavior has a striking effect. Dogs and eats
bolster our morale and make us feel special, because they offer us intense
loyalty and do not criticize us. (66) Many
people need a caring role in order to feel that they matter, and pets make them
feel needed. No matter what arrangements the humans in your life may have made
for themselves, if you have a pet there is always someone who will miss you if
you do not come home tonight. Taking in a pet can help children to
have a greater sense of a contributing role in the family if they take
responsibility for the pet’s care. Similarly, a dog or cat can help parents
whose children have grown up and left home — it can be an antidote to the "empty
nest syndrome". (67) Better self-esteem from
pet ownership and having someone to care for are of benefit to the lonely. Pets
also combat the understimulation that lonely people suffer. (68)
Even when the animals you keep are not very human, they can help to
combat the effects of loneliness by providing positive "solitary activity.
(69) Even by simply walking your dog in the
park you are more likely to become involved with other people. Like babies in
strollers, dogs on leashes are conversation ice-breakers—they are appealing, and
it is socially safe to question strangers about them. A dog, cat or
cagebird is someone to talk to. Most pet owners do not really look upon these
companions as other species but rather as unique individuals, not quite as
"animal" as their wild Brethren. They talk to their pets and feel that there is
a reciprocal understanding of moods—a mute communication. And they feel free to
say to pets what is really on their minds, thus releasing many of their everyday
tensions and anxieties. (70) Even a small but
noisy dog is as effective at keeping burglars out as many sophisticated
electronic systems. Its inherited urge to join in the cooperative defense of
territory makes it the classic watch animal.
A. A pet can also provide an outlet for those who have never had anyone to
care for.
B. Dogs, in particular, can also provide a sense of security.
C. They do not lay down conditions for continuing to love us.
D. Observations have recorded that men pet their dogs and cats every bit as
much as women do.
E. They are something to watch and something to keep you busy.
F. Pets can also bring lonely people into contact with others who share an
interest in annuals.