Cross Breeds

Why are whites obsessed with dogs and cats?

ill start by saying im mixed half white & black. i cant help but notice whites love animals, as my mom (white) has a dog & cat, but most blacks, hispanics, chinese etc. wouldnt give a rats behind. personally i hate dogs & cats (the dependency, fur, their food stinks and the list goes on). help me understand. also what makes someone willing to share their bed with an animal?

Public Comments

1. Because they want to become black.
2. Um where did you get this info? The highest population of dogs is in China. It was so bad that they even had to make a population law for dogs. 1 dog per family, thats it. And hispanics love dogs too. I work with hispanics every day and most of them have dogs along with at least 3 kids. As far as the last question goes: some pets are very comfortable. A cat can very easily lay down in some corner comfortably and is softer and more comfortable than any blanket. Same with some dogs, and dogs can also help people with other things as well.
3. what? I'm South Asian and we love our dogs. live in Singapore for the time being and here, I see lots of Chinese descendants looking after their dogs with great care. Are you saying you don't like dogs or black people don't like dogs. So there are no black dog lovers where you come from? Wow, strange world
4. Growing up with or without pets can have a huge impact on your perspective on this. I had my own dog when I was little, and I considered her my sister (I was an only child). It's not really race so much as your frame of mind, and the way you perceive these animals. Pet owners (or just those who like these animals) see an animal as a "potential friend." It could also be a love issue (no, not like that). Sometimes people get lonely, so getting a dog or cat just to have a friendly face to greet you at home everyday after work can be really uplifting. Especially dogs, which, more often than not, will tend to love you more than you love yourself. My kitty is almost always sitting by the door when I get home from work. Work usually sucks, and seeing her happy makes me feel happy.
5. i'm of fairer skin, but i prefer to call myself an irish-american since that is what i am...i'll never know why they (the powers that be) feel fine with lumping all whites together, but making distinctions when it comes to mexicans, iranians, indians, etc., i mean they don't (the powers that be) lump these races all together calling them brown, and the same goes for chinese, japanese, korean, veitnamese, etc. these racial groups each get their own distinction, we don't refer to them as yellow...anyway, i apologize for my rant it just bothers me. now for your question. as far as pets go they first entered homes of men when man found they were useful, but in this case they were more like property, as far as "pets" like the "pets" we have today, it began in england (probably most parts of europe where there were great amounts of wealth) when a king took to the service dogs and began their pampering, well the aristocracy, high society and anybody who was anybody, wanted to be like the king, so those who were wealthy enough took dogs into their homes, it was a sign of wealth, in that you were obviously wealthy if you could spend money taking care of, feeding, clothing and adorning your dogs with jewels, it meant you could literally throw your money to the dogs and you would be admired and respected by other wealthy people, and looked up to by common man who aspired to be like you, so eventually dogs entered into the homes of more simple folk etc...etc... as for black people, there we go with the whole color distinction again...i know allot of black people and many of them have pets and love them very much. but i would gather that it still boils down to wealth, or more distinctly generational wealth, if you were born into a family who has for many many generations lived comfortably and had at one point began seeing cats and dogs as more than just animals who serve a purpose, for example, cats who catch rats & mice (very important when faced with the plague) or dogs who assist in the hunt, or warn of intruders, and more of a companion, you are then born into a culture that sees cats and dogs this way, Blacks in america would not be seen as generationally wealthy, it has only been forty years they are supposed to have been given equality, they luxury of "pets" in an african-american household is generationally new to today's black families, however many of today's black families are still well below that of the poverty line and so it is still seen by many black households as a luxury, or cats and dogs may still in fact be seen by these families as service providers, protection and such, and not so much as companions. the same can be said about many of the non-white or non-european americans, as most persons fitting this category come from impoverished countries, or impoverished lives from rural or farming communities where dogs and cats were and are still to them seen as only working animals there to provide humans with a service and if they fail to meet the expected standards when providing said service, the are expendable, and interchangeable in which case an animal is easily replaced by one who does a better, quicker job providing said service. So perhaps the reason "whites" seem to you to be lovers of animals, is because white mans history affords them this luxury, many of our worlds nations are still very third world, not one of them do i think is a nation of "whites", in fact the worlds longest running and most industrialized nations are mainly nations of "whites" so to make this long story short i'm guessing it's a cultural thing, it's what you know from what your family knew from what the persons they identified with knew over and over again way back down the line. and as far as sharing a bed with an animal...they are soft, cuddly, and warm, they have sweet knowing eyes that never judge you,a welcoming gesture deserved for you and you alone, and you are always wanted. when you're sad they don't tell you to cheer up they are simply there while you cry, and never do they look on disappointed, when you're angry, they don't tell you to piss off, in fact their sweet face can bring you quickly down several notches, they don't need you and could easily fend for themselves, yet they choose to spend their every waking hour in your care, and nothing or nobody in the world affords a person trust like this...cats purr and when they are curled up next to you it's like a gentle massage, and a cat's meow is meant for their human, they do not meow to one another once weaned from the breast, this communication is for our ears only, and that is something quite special...
6. lol....interesting question! when i lived in miami thought i noticed that- but it could just be a faulty generalization. one thing i noticed in my own life was that before kids i fussed over, took pictures of..etc..etc... my 2 cats. after the baby was born, cats went to back burner (not literally) 2 nd baby- i don't have time for this nonsense- change diapers AND scoop turds out of a box?! i think not. when people ask if i have pets- i'm like- "i have 2 sons- isn't that enough?!"