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Jun 23, 2009 3:30 pm US/Eastern
Half Of Pet Owners Give Pets Human Names
NEW YORK (CBS4) ―
When it comes to people's pets, new numbers show just how much they consider them to be a member of the family. A survey conducted by the Associated Press and Petline.com shows just how people are treating animals like human beings.
"Who is this," asked CBS4's Jorge Estevez to a customer at the Petland store in Pembroke Pines. "This is peanut," responded the woman, who owns a Rat Terrier which she treats like a member of her own family.
In fact, while the woman's dog was named after a nut, many people are naming their animals after real people names, shedding the more common names like Fido, Rex, and Rover.
Other people have their own reasons for naming their animals.
"My dog's name is Gigi. My momma likes that name and she is buying that dog so, Gigi, it is," said the woman laughing.
Almost half of American pet owners gave an animal a human-like name, such as Jack or Sophie, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll of more than 1,000 pet owners released Tuesday. In all, 49 percent of respondents, including 51 percent of dog owners and 50 percent of cat owners, had given at least one of their pets a human-like name.
The most popular? Max got more mentions than other names in the AP Poll, but not enough to give it any broad claim of popularity (less than 2 percent of all mentions). One database of pet names, maintained by Veterinary Pet Insurance, also finds that Max pops up more frequently than any other name.
There has been a move away from classic dog names such as Spot and Lassie, according to VPI spokesman Curtis Steinhoff. There were 13 Fidos in VPI's database in 2008, placing the name at No. 2,866. Rover was No. 2,534, behind names like Grendel, Ginger Snap and Munchie.
The survey also found more trends in the animal community. 50 percent of people take dogs on vacations with them, 38 percent of people have them in family portraits, 37 percent of them include them in a holiday card, and 21 percent of people take them to work with them.
The survey also talked about people feeling that their dogs have their own sense of style.
"Certain shirts I put on him, he leaves on," said Tatiana Demacedo, who says her dog only likes certain items because he bites off other types of t shirts.
And as far as nap time goes, 35 percent of people sleep with their animal. "My dog sleeps with me every night by my feet," said Demacedo.
Other people draw a line. "It can sleep in my bedroom but not my bed," said Ashanti Parks.
But the best answer of all came from a ten year old boy looking for a dog of his own. "I think it is better to treat dogs like humans because some people treat them badly and they don't deserve to be treated that way," said Sebastian Parks who really found the right balance.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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