There are a number of factors in modern day life which can act as triggers to pet ownership, because the kind of unconditional love which pets offer seems to act as an antidote to life's pressures.
Without necessarily being consciously aware of it, people may, thus, remember the feelings associated with owning a pet in the past and seek to reintroduce pets' often calming influence into their lives.
Owning a pet is so therapeutic that individual family members may even have their own pet and, therefore, their own personal and individual source of therapy.
The readjustments resulting from divorce, the blending of families, becoming a stepchild or a step-parent, the pressures on working mothers, or conversely, the pressure of unemployment, are becoming increasingly common in modern day life and can add enormously to its difficulties and complexities. The undemanding simplicity of the love offered or required by a pet can be a welcome contrast to this.
"A dog is better than a person because it doesn't tell you when it doesn't like something. It can't hassle you and it can't ask for money".
"I had a cat for 18 years. He was very loyal"
"A dog is something you can keep with you. It'sconstant and reliable, not like women or flatmates, and as long as you keep feeding it, it keeps coming back".
"My first husband got at me by not letting me have visiting rights to our Labrador".
The past decade has been a period of enormous social, political and cultural upheaval, not to mention the technological advances which confront us every day at home and at work. Rapid changes have taken place and continue to do so, with the result that there is an absence of reassuring rituals and certainties. Families fragment, businesses are sold, houses make way for high rise developments and people are bombarded with information on how to improve their communications - even the simple telephone now has a range of options and suppliers. As a result of both the nature and degree of these changes, anxiety, stress and insecurity are experienced.
In this world of rapid change, the one thing which remains pretty constant is one's pet.
"He's a good little cornerstone in our household. It doesn't matter how cheesed off everyone else is, he's happy".
"The animals are my security blanket. They are my children, I don't think I could live without them".
"Owning a cat or dog is like buying chocolate in the recession. It comforts you".
"People don't give up their pets just because of the recession".
"You owe it to a pet to see them through and not just turn them out".
The "good" citizen is expected to be unprejudiced, tolerant, to refrain from abuse and to recognise and avoid stereotyping. Racism and sexism are unfashionable and unacceptable. Trying to step through this verbal and emotional minefield can mean that people are increasingly inhibited about freely expressing their emotions and reactions; social engineering can dictate what is said, whereas, in fact, people may long to bemoan and stereotype the unemployed and various other groups.
Against this background, it is a welcome (and generally acceptable) release to be able to tar all Pit Bull terriers with the same brush, or to vent one's frustrations on one's own pet.
"My father has always said a dog or a cat or a bird can't object if they're being mistreated".
"The smaller the dog, the more aggressive they are".
"If you can mistreat an animal you can mistreat a child. An animal is like an extension of yourself".
The loneliness and isolation inherent in some lifestyles can be tempered by pet ownership, and while control is demanded in other aspects of life, one can "let go" with an animal and weep, or enjoy the cuddling and nurturing.
"The attitudes of people are changing about showing emotions. Once, if you went overboard with a cat you were seen as over the top. Now we know that stroking and touching is good for you and cats are an easy way to do it".
"We were so traumatised when our cat died, we buried her in the garden so she could be near us - my husband was so deeply upset, it's interesting to see Australian men can be like that now, so sensitive about pets".
"Animals make life richer. In our society you don't get much touching, but with an animal you do".
"The number of times the kids have been growled at mercilessly by their mother and then gone and cuddled the dog!".
"It's nice to come home and find some other creature there. It's nice to relate to an animal if only because they don't talk back".
"He loves me even when no-one else does".
And finally, owning animals can provide a much needed link with "nature" for those living in a highly-urban environment.
"Living in the city, no-one talks to you. You could be here for 20 years and no-one would talk to you, you could die with no-one knowing or caring - but my cat reminds me of living in the country. She cares about me like people do in the country".