Poll shows many American pets are treated like family

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

A new poll conducted by the Associated Press and Petside.com reveals some interesting insight into the way Americans view their pets.

The poll results, released Tuesday, showed that 50% of pet owners viewed their animal friends as full-fledged family members. (An additional 36% saw their pets as part of the family, of a sort, but not as full family members.)

Women, especially single women, were more likely than men to consider their pet a member of the family: 66% of single women reported feeling that way, compared with 52% of single men, and 46% of married women and 43% of married men considered their pet a family member.

So how often were these ‘family members’ invited along on a family vacation? Half the poll’s dog-owning respondents reported having taken the family pet on a trip; 39% of cat owners had done the same. But cats fared better in the sleeping-in-the-bed department: 36% of cats were allowed to sleep in their human’s bed, as opposed to 29% of dogs. (Pets with single owners got to sleep in the bed more often than their counterparts with married owners.)

More than 30% of dog and cat owners said they had included their pet in a family portrait or personalized holiday card; 29% of dog owners and 26% of cat owners reported celebrating their pets’ birthdays; and 43% of respondents said that, at least sometimes, they offered their pets human food. Another fun fact: Nearly half (49%) had given their dog or cat a ‘human’ name like Max, Jack or Sophie.

The poll was conducted from May 28 to June 1 through cellphone and land-line interviews. More than 1,100 pet owners were surveyed, according to the Associated Press.

-- Lindsay Barnett