Are you a dog person or cat person? Whether you have a dog or a cat says a lot about who you are!

In addition to the traits they share with cats, dogs have their own identity. They cohabit with people who need to achieve and who have a strong desire for social validation and status recognition. Dogs are a way of signalling our social standing in the world. We "wear" our dogs like we wear a designer label -as an expression of "conspicuous consumption." Dog owners are particularly strong on this hot button, which we normally associate with brands!

Hence, dogs function as a "social marker." They say something about us to other people! We've also found that dog owners enjoy violence in the media (movies, games, etc.), as if they are proud of the "power" of their animal! (Without in any way justifying the cases of canine violence, which are fortunately rare occurrences considering the high number of domestic dogs. Hopefully, we are only talking symbolically!).

Dogs also function as a "social lubricant." They come to us. They go to other people. They are gregarious. They have relationships with their human guardians. They contribute to our socialization. They encourage people to meet. Dog owners express a strong need to socialize, to connect with others. Dogs seem to encourage these connections and encounters by mediating some of our relationships with others.

As a marker and social lubricant, dogs contribute to our social life, to the way we live together!

Cats are more intimate creatures. They generally invite a closer and more respectful symbiosis with life and nature. They are more independent. We go to them. They encourage this response in their guardians, who also express this particular way of connecting more intimately with life and others around them.

It is fascinating to observe that cat guardians are particularly sensitive to environmental protection, to mutual aid and social commitment, and to society's ethical issues. Cats express this same sensitivity to life.

Moreover, cats tend to have guardians who are more individualistic and idealistic, who are concerned with their uniqueness and need for personal fulfillment, in similar fashion to their pet's independent character (a sensitivity to themselves that does not exclude others; far from it).

Cats also provide intense "polysensorial" experiences in response to our strong need for enjoyable stimulation through all our senses. (We want to touch cats, smell them, snuggle with them, etc.). Cats are sensual creatures who like to rub against the "things" they like.

You might object that many dog guardians have relationships with their dogs that are closer to what I have described for cats, and vice versa. True enough. What I have described is the average profile of pet guardians, their predominant characteristics, without any specific segmentation. (I, too, have a dog with whom I have relationships that is similar in many respects to the one many people have with their cats, even though my dog is the size of a bear!).

This brief analysis leads me to a quite obvious conclusion: as a society, we need to make more room for animals. As a social project and in our personal lives (for those who don't have pets), we should promote more inclusion of animals in our society, in our communities.

Pets contribute to personal development; they connect people more intimately to life and to nature generally. They help us live together, etc.

Numerous studies have demonstrated the physical and mental health benefits of domestic animals. That is why animal therapy is often recommended for the relief of all types of ailments.

In Paris, you can eat at a restaurant with your dog, and more and more companies are accepting dogs in the workplace.