Pets as Family. Really?

An Associated Press-Petside.com poll* of pet owners concluded that:

half of all American pet owners consider their pets as much a part of the family as any other person in the household
36 percent said their pet is part of the family but not a full member
29 percent of dog owners and 26 percent of cat owners celebrate pet birthdays
37 percent of dog owners and 33 percent of cat owners include their pet’s photo or name in a holiday card
50% of dog owners and 39% of cat owners have taken their pet on vacation
Taken to work — 21% for the dogs and 14% for the cats
Nearly half of all dog owners and 40 percent of cat owners admit giving their pets human food at least sometimes
single people (66 percent of single women versus 46 percent of married women) and women were more likely to call a pet a full member of the family
almost half (49 percent) of respondents have given at least one of their current pets a human-like name, including 51 percent of dog owners and 50 percent of cat owners
more cat owners (36%) allow their furry friends to sleep in the same bed with them than dog owners (29%)

*The AP-Petside.com poll was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media from May 28-June 1, 2009. It is based on landline and cellular telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,110 pet owners. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.