What is it about animals that captures our hearts and minds? Do they connect us to our animal nature and remind us that we are only one of many life forms on this planet? Our profound connection with our dogs and cats provides relief from the stress of daily life and precious companionship. In our partnerships with our horses we can fly like the wind, soar, dance, and speak in a language all its own. We love to tell their stories and relate the remarkable things they do.

Although people have begun to keep pets relatively recently, animals’ association with humans goes back to earliest times, beginning for practical reasons. Domesticated animals enabled nomadic societies to settle and diversify as more abundant sources of food became available. Cows were first domesticated in southeastern Europe about 8500 years ago. Important for their milk, meat, and leather, their ability to pull a plow or cart allowed one person to grow more food than their family could eat and transport the remainder to town for sale. First domesticated around 10,000 years ago in the Near East, goats and sheep are valued as food, for their milk, and their coats. Without an abundant source of wool, the Persian carpet would not have become the treasured art form it is today. Across the world in South America, llamas and alpacas have served as pack animals while producing uniquely beautiful fleece for more than 4,000 years.

Today there are over 131 million dogs and cats in the United States—nearly half our human population. Learn more about the state of the American pet.

Whatever role animals play in our lives, it is our responsibility to care for them. Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital is dedicated to providing the resources to help you to do just that.