A pet is an animal we keep / for emotional rather than economic reasons. / A pet animal is kept as a companion, and we all need companions / to keep us feeling happy. / But pets offer us more than mere companionship. / They invite us to love and be loved.

 

Many owners feel their pets understand them, / for animals are quick to sense anger and sorrow. / Often a cat or a dog can comfort us at times / when human words just do not help. / We feel loved, too, by the way pets depend on us / for a home, for food and drink. / Dogs especially, look up to their owners, / which makes them feel important and needed.

 

A pet can be something different to each member of the family /—another baby to a mother and father, a sister or brother to an only child, / but for all of us pets provide pleasure and companionship. / It has even been suggested / that tiny pets should be sent as companions to astronauts on space ships, / to help reduce the stress and loneliness of space flights. /