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The Humanization of Pets

The phrase "humanization of pets" originated with the American pet supply industry. It describes the modern day phenomenon which finds the status of pets elevated to the level of full family member.
The phenomenon conveys pretty much all the same rights and privileges that the human members of the family enjoy. In trade publications, the phrase used to be encased in quotation marks. Now it's a part of the industry lexicon.
As a rep for a high-end holistic pet food company, I spend 30 hours a week in various pet supply stores talking to pet owners about diets, feeding protocols and behavior and, of course, trying to get them to buy our food.
A refrain I often hear is, “Oh, I’ve tried a lot of those expensive foods and the dog got…” followed by a litany of ills.
Especially from fellow baby boomers, who follow up with; “When I was a kid, we never had any of this stuff. We fed our dogs canned horse meat and table scraps and they were as healthy as can be…shiny coat, white teeth, blah, blah blah.”
And for good measure, they throw in, “…and they lived to be 20 years old.”

Nonsense. I was there. Growing up in the Boston suburbs in the 50’s, our dogs stank, their breath stank, their teeth were horribly discolored, they scratched incessantly and they mostly lived outside.
They slept on or under the back porch and if it rained and you had no dog house, they got to come inside, but were kept down in the cellar. “Bring him to the vet? What for? He didn’t get hit by a car.”
They only saw a vet once a year…during the annual town-sponsored rabies clinic at the fire station. And they seldom made it into their teens.
Fast forward to today. Many dog owners are feeding food that costs well over $50 a bag. They’re pampering their pooches with toys, treats, hugs and cuddles.
They bring them to see the vet at least once a year for a check-up; bring them to doggy day care, the dog park, and with them on vacation.
Money is no object, though it seems anyway, as we lavish fashion and luxury items on our pets.
They don’t stink, their breath is normally “kissing sweet,” they’re in better health from their coat to their teeth, and they sleep in our beds with us.
So what brought about this change; what the pet supply industry has termed “the humanization of pets?”

An Internet search on the subject turns up plenty about the economics of the phenomenon; how love-struck pet parents have bottomless purses and wallets when it comes to the fur kids.
We also see how savvy business owners can board that gravy train (no pun intended). Trade publications are rife with new ways to exploit the phenomenon.
But you'll have a hard time finding anything about how it all of a sudden happened.
I have a simple theory. Leash laws.

Prior to the advent of leash laws, free-roaming dogs were a nuisance. They fowled the landscape with their waste, trespassed onto our private property and terrorized our children.
They barked at and fought with each other, scattered our trash all over the neighborhood on curb-side pickup day, and generally were considered to be problematic.
As housing developments flourished and tightly packed neighborhoods sprung up, magnifying the scourge of the roaming dogs, zoning ordinances changed and a few communities enacted “leash laws.”
These laws required owners to be in complete control of their dogs at all times and also prohibited the free-roaming of dogs.
Animal control officials, known then as dog catchers, would imprison roaming dogs in shelters, known then as dog pounds, and owners would pay the ransom to get them released from the big house. But it essentially worked. There was peace across the land.
And leash law fever spread all across America so that, now, only some rural communities still don’t have leash laws on the books.
Thus being forced into a more up-close-and-personal relationship with their dogs, owners were quick to address the body odor, bad breath, and manners issues. And love happened.

We openly mourned the loss of a pet, where previously we’d suppress such emotions for fear of having societal eyes rolled at us.
We love being with our pets so much that we take them everywhere with us. The drive-up window usually produces a treat for the dog.
At some restaurants in Europe, dogs are welcome to join their owners, though America hasn’t arrived there yet.
But, through legislation, we’ve held airlines to a higher standard when transporting our pets. States have written humane laws that protect animals and created harsher penalties for animal cruelty convictions.

With pet owners demonstrating a willingness to pay more for higher quality, we’ve seen improvements in everything from pet food to veterinary care.
The more affluent communities don’t have pet supply stores; they have pet boutiques where you can pay over $2,000 for a Gucci soft sided pet carrier.
In 2016 Americans spent $62.75 billion dollars on pets, and the American Pet Products Association expects that number to increase annually, as it has since they first started keeping such statistics in 1994. Back then, spending totaled $17 billion.
Is it any wonder then that manufacturers are emboldened to greater heights in pet product offerings?
In my opinion, the long arm of the law, the leash law, that is, ushered in a cultural revolution that continues to evolve, much to the approval of just about everyone.
An Opportunity For You To Weigh In On The Topic
Do you agree that leash laws are largely responsible for the humanization of pets?
© 2014 Bob Bamberg
Comments
Hi Bob, If you get 2 comments from me it is just old age. The day I spend $2,000 dollars for a dog collar lock me up. Our local pantry was out of food, that tells it good enough. I love my spoiled dogs, but their collar came from Walmart. HAVE A GREAT DAY!
If I ever spend $2,000 for a dog collar with so many people suffering in this country they can lock me up. I love my dogs and they are spoiled. I wish people would get their priorities straight.
The closeness a human has with their pet and the attention that it pays to the human in return. Of course, unconditional love is shared between them.
I think our standards for animal care have improved but so have our standards for the care of our children. By today's standards, for example, the most excellent principal of my old elementary school would be considered a serial child abuser.
Maybe we are just becoming more caring as a society. It is nice to think so, anyway! Great hub, Bob Bamberg!
Very interesting story about humanization of pets. We had pet birds for some years. But then released them as one of that bird seemed to want to fly away. So, we felt they also want freedom and we should not hold them in cages, even though it was a large cage.
There are still several places in Italy where dogs run loose, live outdoors roaming the roads in small towns and are treated less like human beings on legs. Interestingly, these dogs are highly social, used to meeting people all the time, they also seem quite resilient to noises and abrupt movements and very" street-savvy". I know a trainer who visited India and was surprised how dozens of dogs were able to stay in close quarters near people without giving any signs of fear or aggression. Perhaps the fact they are roaming and out and about by people all the time prevented them from missing out social interactions compared to dogs left alone at home for a good part of the day and walked at night when no one is around? Your article is interesting and thought provoking. Voted up!
I never thought about this. I think you're right, though. Leash laws are probably what changed things. I remember growing up and having to put my dog on a leash. Otherwise, she was let out in the backyard and then back in the house.
Now, I still see people letting their dog run loose and I don't condone it. They get run over and they are, as you say, a nuisance because they leave stuff in everyone else's yard.
I believe you it may be a reason people care more for their pets. If you have to follow so many laws, it makes you think twice about how you care for a pet. Great theory and well argued!
Bob: I couldn't agree more. Pets do enrich our lives. Honestly, I don't think I could live in a house very long without at least one cat running around. I did that for about a month after my last cat died and it was too quiet and I missed the companionship. As for the money being spent, I don't buy all of the fancy stuff for my cats, but I will spend almost anything it takes for the vet bill if one gets sick. That just goes along with being a good, responsible pet owner.
Hi Bob! I never really considered leash laws as a probable cause for the creation of the fur kids phenomenon. But it makes sense. Though I also think there are some additional big trends helping to fuel the frenzy including:
* More people being comfortable with being single, but wanting some companionship. Pets fill that void.
* The environmental and humane movements that consider animals less as things and more as beings.
I also tend to agree with Peggy W that pets are probably as they always have been, but society has definitely changed over the past 50 years or so.
Very insightful look at the topic. Voted up and sharing! Have a great weekend!
I am a member of the baby boomer generation and grew up with pets in my parents home and my hubby and I have had pets for most of our lives. They were babied then and ours are today. You may be right about leash laws having some effect but I also think that the fact of pets being loving, non-judgemental and happy to see us gives us solace in this fast paced world we live in today. Pets have not changed...they were always that way...but society has changed since the 1950s.
Very interesting, I suspect our prosperous society has something to do with treating pets as people. When we were hungry pets were tools, hunting partners and dispatchers of vermin that threatened our harvest or stored food. It was only royalty that could afford decorative pets. Peasantry needed work animals with stamina, courage and intelligence. This is born out by the physical appearance of the working and hunting breeds and the more decorative breeds. I prefer my dogs to have a job.
Think about pets as people can lead to problems. Border collies seem so smart and they are, they also get very bored and destructive if they do not have daily work. Their behavior dates from a time when a dog was a helper not an ersatz infant.
Very interesting. It is probably a supply and demand issue, although we still have far too many homeless pets that are sadly euthanized each year. I enjoyed reading your thoughts here! We have more pets than people in my household, always have. Only one human child but she has had quite a few cat siblings over the years. They always get fed the good stuff, probably what your company manufactures. Meow, meow.
Growing up I just tolerated our dogs; which as you say rarely were allowed in the house but as an adult had a Peek-a-Poo I bathed and slept with every night and she had to be right down in the blankets with me. It is hard to believe even yet; lol.
The hug I did for you is and has been number one at spreading hub love (here at HP) for days and days now. Just in case you might be interested. (:
I never gave it much thought, but after reading your article I have to agree with you. Now that humans have to live more closely to their pets, they want them to smell nice and that's just the beginning of the pampering. Even more now, I think that's all increasing because a lot of people are opting to have pets instead of children, but they treat the pets as if they were the children. Don't get me wrong, I talk about my cats as if they were my kids, but they don't wear cute little outfits, go to the groomers for "spa day", and so on. I think animals make wonderful companions for those of us who are single, but I think a lot of people go overboard.
Bob - I agree that the issues you described probably played roles in the 'humanization' of our pets. However, I also think dogs especially evolved over centuries spent living with humans to make themselves more a part of our families.
When I read the book, THE GENIUS OF DOGS: How Dogs are Smarter than you Think, by (scientist) Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods, my unscientific theories were confirmed. I heartily recommend this book, which is joyous in content and written in a non-academic manner so that it's a pleasure to read. Hare's hypothesis(which he proved through long research) was the domestication of dogs led to evolutionary changes in them which, in turn, made them more likely to share a special place in human families.
Voted Up++
Jaye
25