Pets and Animals

A pet is a domesticated animal that lives with people, but is not forced to work and is not eaten, in most instances. In most cases, a pet is kept to entertain people or for companionship. Some pets such as dogs and cats are placed in an animal shelter if there is no one willing to take care of it. If no one adopts it or the pet is too old/sick, the pet may be euthanized. Dogs, cats, fish, rodents, lagomorphs, ferrets, birds, certain reptiles and amphibians, and a wide variety of arthropods such as tarantulas and hermit crabs are the most common pets in North America. Horses, elephants, oxen, and donkeys are usually made to work, so they are not usually called pets. Some dogs also do work for people, and it was once common for some birds (like falcons and carrier pigeons) to work for humans. Rodents are also very popular pets. The most common are guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters (especially Syrian and dwarf hamsters), mice and rats.

Dogs

Dogs are sometimes referred to as "man's best friend" because they are kept as domestic pets and are usually loyal and like being around humans. Dogs like to be petted, but only when they can first see the petter's hand before petting; one should never pet a dog from behind.

Walking your dog can help you meet the daily exercise requirements the government recommends. ... That extra exercise may be why pet owners tend to have lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Dogs also reduce stress and prevent loneliness. A pet can be a good companion especially if you live alone.

Dogs often have jobs, including as police dogs, army dogs, assistance dogs, fire dogs, messenger dogs, hunting dogs, herding dogs, or rescue dogs. They are sometimes called "canines" from the Latin word for dog - canis. Sometimes people also use "dog" to describe other canids, such as wolves.

Dogs find the greatest joy in even the simplest of things, like a ride in the car. Dogs are the best because, unlike people (and most cats), they love you unconditionally. They know how to take awesome selfies. Dogs will inspire you to stop and sniff the flowers.

10 reasons why dogs are the best pets

Cats

The cat is similar in anatomy to the other felid species, has a strong flexible body, quick reflexes, sharp teeth and retractable claws adapted to killing small prey. Its night vision and sense of smell are well developed.
	Cat communication includes vocalizations like meowing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling and grunting as well as cat-specific body language. It is a solitary hunter, but a social species. It can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for human ears, such as those made by mice and other small mammals.
It is a predator that is most active at dawn and dusk. It secretes and perceives pheromones. It can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for human ears, such as those made by mice and other small mammals. It is a predator that is most active at dawn and dusk. It secretes and perceives pheromones.

Some Benefits of Pets

With almost no effort at all, pets manage to bring so much joy into our lives. They make us laugh, comfort us when we are sick or upset, and are always there for us no matter what.

Human uses of animals

Human uses of animals include both practical uses, such as the production of food and clothing, and symbolic uses, such as in art, literature, mythology, and religion. Animals used in these ways include fish, crustaceans, insects, molluscs, mammals and birds.

Economically, animals provide much of the meat eaten by the human population, whether farmed or hunted, and until the arrival of mechanised transport, terrestrial mammals provided a large part of the power used for work and transport. Animals serve as models in biological research, such as in genetics, and in drug testing.

Many species are kept as pets, the most popular being mammals, especially dogs and cats. These are often anthropomorphised.

Animals such as horses and deer are among the earliest subjects of art, being found in the Upper Paleolithic cave paintings such as at Lascaux. Major artists such as Albrecht Durer, George Stubbs and Edwin Landseer are known for their portraits of animals. Animals further play a wide variety of roles in literature, film, mythology, and religion.

As food

The human population exploits a large number of animal species for food, both of domesticated livestock species in animal husbandry and, mainly at sea, by hunting wild species.

Marine fish of many species, such as herring, cod, tuna, mackerel and anchovy, are caught commercially, forming an important part of the diet, including protein and fatty acids, of much of the world's population. A smaller number of species are farmed commercially, including salmon and carp.

Invertebrates including cephalopods like squid and octopus; crustaceans such as prawns, crabs, and lobsters; and bivalve or gastropod molluscs such as clams, oysters, cockles, and whelks are all hunted or farmed for food. Mammals form a large part of the livestock raised for meat across the world. They include (2011) around 1.4 billion cattle, 1.2 billion sheep, 1 billion domestic pigs, and (1985) over 700 million rabbits.

For clothing and textiles

Textiles from the most utilitarian to the most luxurious are made from animal fibres such as wool, camel hair, angora, cashmere, and mohair. Hunter-gatherers have used animal sinews as lashings and bindings. Leather from cattle, pigs and other species is widely used to make shoes, handbags, belts and many other items. Animals have been hunted and farmed for their fur, to make items such as coats and hats, again ranging from simply warm and practical to the most elegant and expensive.

Dyestuffs including carmine (cochineal), shellac, and kermes have been made from the bodies of insects. In classical times, Tyrian purple was extracted from sea snails such as Stramonita haemastoma (Muricidae) for the clothing of royalty, as recorded by Aristotle and Pliny the Elder.

For work and transport

Working domestic animals including cattle, horses, yaks, camels, and elephants have been used for work and transport from the origins of agriculture, their numbers declining with the arrival of mechanised transport and agricultural machinery. In 2004 they still provided some 80% of the power for the mainly small farms in the third world, and some 20% of the world's transport, again mainly in rural areas. In mountainous regions unsuitable for wheeled vehicles, pack animals continue to transport goods

In science

Animals such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, the zebrafish, the chicken and the house mouse, serve a major role in science as experimental models, both in fundamental biological research, such as in genetics, and in the development of new medicines, which must be tested exhaustively to demonstrate their safety. Millions of mammals, especially mice and rats, are used in experiments each year.

In medicine

Vaccines have been made using animals since their discovery by Edward Jenner in the 18th century. He noted that inoculation with live cowpox afforded protection against the more dangerous smallpox. In the 19th century, Louis Pasteur developed an attenuated (weakened) vaccine for rabies. In the 20th century, vaccines for the viral diseases mumps and polio were developed using animal cells grown in vitro.

An increasing variety of drugs are based on toxins and other molecules of animal origin. The cancer drug Yondelis was isolated from the tunicate Ecteinascidia turbinata. One of dozens of toxins made by the deadly cone snail Conus geographus is used as Prialt in pain relief.

In hunting

Animals, and products made from them, are used to assist in hunting. People have used hunting dogs to help chase down animals such as deer, wolves, and foxes; birds of prey from eagles to small falcons are used in falconry, hunting birds or mammals; and tethered cormorants have been used to catch fish.

Dendrobatid poison dart frogs, especially those in the genus Phyllobates, secrete toxins such as Pumiliotoxin 251D and Allopumiliotoxin 267A powerful enough to be used to poison the tips of blowpipe darts.

As pets

A wide variety of animals are kept as pets, from invertebrates such as tarantulas and octopuses, insects including praying mantises, reptiles such as snakes and chameleons,and birds including canaries, parakeets and parrots all finding a place. However, mammals are the most popular pets in the Western world, with the most kept species being dogs, cats, and rabbits. For example, in America in 2012 there were some 78 million dogs, 86 million cats, and 3.5 million rabbits. Anthropomorphism, the innate psychological tendency to attribute human-like traits, emotions, and intentions to animals, is an important aspect of the way that people relate to animals such as pets. There is a tension between the role of animals as companions to humans, and their existence as individuals with rights of their own

For sport

A wide variety of both terrestrial and aquatic animals are hunted for sport.

The aquatic animals most often hunted for sport are fish, including many species from large marine predators such as sharks and tuna, to freshwater fish such as trout and carp. Birds such as partridges, pheasants and ducks, and mammals such as deer and wild boar, are among the terrestrial game animals most often hunted for sport and for food.

Uses of animals and their health problems