If you love animals (as I do) it’s interesting to see the historical timeline of when various wild animal species were domesticated.
Domestication is not the same as taming an animal, which is when humans condition wild animals to live in captivity. Domestication involves genetic changes which involve behavioral traits (low stress when near humans) as well as physical traits (often neoteny, or youthful traits maintained into adulthood).
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-domestication-of-animal…
I have nits to pick with the article. Dogs and cats may have been pets when tamed (babies adopted because they were cute) but they were not domesticated because people fed adults as pets. They were domesticated over many generations because they were working animals. Cats caught mice that ruined stored crops. Dogs helped hunters and defended the people. In later years, dogs were bred for macroeconomic impact, such as herding sheep, which they do to this day.
Many domestic farm animals had Macro impact in history and up to the present. Farmers’ sales of livestock, dairy, and poultry account for over half of U.S. agricultural cash receipts. Since 2015, cash receipts from animal products have exceeded $160 billion per year.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/animal-products/
The value of the pet industry in the US will reach nearly $109.6 billion this year. I’m amazed that people spend almost as much on their pets as animals they eat.
Are our pets worth it? Well, my 70 pound Border Collie X German Shepherd dog, Cliff, is asleep about 4 feet away from me. He would kiss me if I wanted a snuggle with all his passionate, loving, loyal doggie heart. He would quickly become a credible, barking protector if anyone threatened me. Our English cocker spaniel is asleep about 4 feet away from DH. If we wanted to hunt birds, she’d be more than happy to flush them out in the field.
Pets are happiest when fulfilling their bred-in working task. They aren’t really happy as sedentary couch potatoes – unless they were specifically bred for the purpose. Chihuahuas were bred in Mexico as a type of animated hot water bottle for people who have arthritis so they are happy as lap dogs.
Wendy