I find little use for pets of any kind outside of some functional uses. Animals for assistance with disabilities? Awesome. A dog on a farm to chase away squirrels, coyotes, etc? perfect. Cats to keep the mice out of the barn? You betcha. But outside of serving some kind of function, I don't get it. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to have pets, I just don't get it. I suppose I view pets like other people view children. I don't want any of my own, but I'll enjoy yours when I see them at your house. I'm pretty fond of dogs. They're funny and fun to play fetch with but for me they're certainly not fun enough to feed and clean up after. Owning and caring for pets has been around for a long time, but I can't seem to understand it. Show me the function, and I get it. Without function, it's just an animal that puts its anus on my pillow/couch/carpet.