“I think that's really just kind of the tip of the iceberg. And they found that 75% of all dogs suffer from some anxiety-related problem. They looked at the medical records of almost 14,000 dogs. It was a Finnish study and it was published in Nature and Scientific Reports. One is a large-scale study that was published in 2020, which really shocked me. “A couple of studies have really stood out to me. What data do we have to show pets are miserable? If an animal doesn't have the opportunity to engage in those behaviors, they end up feeling out of control, frustrated, bored, and maybe acting out.” Food gathering and foraging is one of the most basic patterns of behavior that animals have evolved. But meaningful work is really important for animals. “We might think it's a great gift that we just feed dogs kibble twice a day. And what I try to encourage people to do is to step into the paws or claws of the animals themselves and say, ‘What does the world look like from their perspective?’ We tend to look at their world and their experiences from our perspective. “I think in the case of dogs, we do our best, but often, it's really not enough. But we put them into human environments that are really challenging for them in many ways. I think that's a really hard thing for people who live with animals to hear because we love our pets. But as a matter of fact, animals who live in our homes as pets are, I think, one of the most miserable populations of animals on the planet. We tend to think of all animals who live in our homes as really pampered and well-protected, and we love them. “It may be a bitter pill to swallow, but yes, I think our pets are actually not that happy being our pets. 6 questions about pets’ happiness, answered by animal ethicist Jessica Pierce And unfortunately, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine for these animals. (Courtesy of Kenny Torella)Īuthor, animal ethicist and pet owner Jessica Pierce - who Torella interviewed for his piece -has thought a lot about what it means to have a pet. Evvie is one of the 250 million animals that live in American households.
Torella wanted to understand Evvie better and to hold himself accountable for learning more about dog psychology and positive dog training. “And yet, I always wondered, is Evvie just bored and frustrated all day from being cooped up inside?” “I work from home so I’m able to give her a lot of walks and playtime,” he said. The question was the focus of a recent piece by Vox staff writer Kenny Torella called “The case against pet ownership: Why we should aim for a world with fewer but happier pets.” Torella says he wrote the piece because he wanted to get inside the mind of his own dog Evvie. Some research suggests they might not be. But is the relationship reciprocal? Are our pets as happy as they make us? (Charlie Riedel/AP)įor pet owners, their dog or cat (or fish, or gecko, or bird) is a major source of joy.
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