Consider the value of pets to humans
Humans have had a working relationship with animals for circa 10,000 years. It is therefore reasonable to assume that at some point certain animals would become pets and hold a closer relationship to humans that mere food or a working animal. It is evident that certain animals have moved with the evolution of humankind the dog and the cat are two such animals which are considered in our culture to be pets, it is true that other animals have also evolved with us.
Which animals become pets is a matter of culture differences “Human attitudes to animals often appear extraordinarily variable and arbitrary. Consider just two examples. In India the cow is sacred, and its slaughter and consumption are taboo. As a result cows wander about and proliferate unmolested in a society where humans regularly die from lack of food. In the west the domestic dog has become the western equivalent of the sacred cow” [1] page xiii. As we know Dog is not eaten in Britain but is a valid food source in Korea this practice would be abhorred in the west.
Dogs started their evolutionary journey as a wolf (or Canis Lupus), there would have been little value in a wolf and, in fact, as a wild pack the wolf would have been a pest to evolving man in his desperate struggle to domesticate and rear his own livestock. At some point the wolf was domesticated and the dog evolved. Many dogs would have been breed and chosen for specific reasons, my own dogs, the Bernese Mountain Dog, would have originally been used as draft dogs where as the Rottweiler used as a guard dog. These breeds were chosen for specific tasks and their value was dictated by their usefulness.
In recent time animals have been used to fulfill an emotional need in humans and therefore the attachment humans place on pets in more a kin to the relationship between parent and child. The value of pets to humans is therefore an individual question of where the human sees the place of the pet. For example the many people in the west apply human characteristics to their pets often talking to them in a parent-child way, this can lead to problems with pets and in particular with dogs who are a pack animal and respect a strong pack leader. Dogs have evolved to work and live with humans because they see their human masters through their eyes as their pack leader.
Animals in general and pets specifically still have value as working animals such as guide dogs for the blind, PAT (pets as therapy) Dogs, Huskies dogs, and search and rescue dogs. These dogs are used where their unique skills or quality as a breed far outweigh any skills or technology that we humans have.
Some humans have little or no respect or value for their own or other people’s pets or animals, which makes it difficult to say that all humans value pets and there is the question of culture, one culture’s pet maybe another culture’s food. The RSPCA strive to protect animals from cruelty and neglect “122,454 cruelty complaints were investigated in 2006 [by the RSPCA and] 1,647 convictions against 898 defendants secured by private prosecution against those who break the laws in place to protect animals” [2]
In terms of value, some people pay thousands of pounds for pets, pet insurance, vets bills, food and treats. Companies like Pets at Home sell all manner of accessories for people’s pets. The dog does not care how much his lead and collar cost, a dog has no concept of this, to the dog a £1 collar and lead are exactly the same as if £45 was spent on similar items, however, because of the emotional attachment placed on the dog by the human the owner ‘feels’ better having spent more.
It is our culture to buy things for each other to show one another that we care, many people do this for their dog at Christmas etc, but a dog does not understand that this is a gesture of love; equally with food treats the dog is unaware of the reason behind the food treat. Just that there is food available now. Equally a re-homed well adjusted pet does not miss his previous owner but lives in the moment and enjoys his current owners.
Some people get pets as companions this is fulfilling the emotional need of the Human and therefore the value of the pet is immeasurable.
So the value of pets to humans can be measured in an unscientific way by the emotional attachment to the pet from the human and the way that a home feels somewhat empty when the pet is not there for whatever reason. Often pets are not treated as animals but as humans and we expected them to live up to human values and society, animals have no comprehension of democracy or reasoned arguments. This indicates that whilst humans are gaining much from the emotional relationship with the pet, the human may not be fulfilling the needs of the pet by treating it in a similar way to a human and by placing human characteristics and values upon it.
Some criminal elements see such a financial value in animals and particularly in pedigree dogs that they will take them. “Dog owners in the Amman Valley [Wales] are being warned to keep a close eye on their pets following a spate of thefts. About 10 Jack Russells have gone missing from the Glanamman and Garnant areas in recent months and police believe dognappers are responsible.”[3]
In summary the definition of value is “the importance or usefulness of something [or] the amount of money that something is worth”[4] page 847. This suggests that pets have a purely a useful value or a monetary value. Pets do have a financial value to humans but also an emotional value. The degree of value placed upon that pet is variable and depends on the individual and that definition of a pet is decided upon based on factors such as culture.
References
[1] In the company of Animals: a Study of Human-animal Relationships, James Serpell 1986 Basil Blackwell
[2] Internet article www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/RSPCARedirect&pg=mediacentre&marker=1&articleId=1190637812434 .RSPCA 2008.
[3] internet article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/6364541.stm 2007 BBC.
[4] Paperback Oxford English Dictionary, Edited by Catherine Soanes, 2006, Oxford University Press.