Americanslove pets. Many pet owners treat their pets as a part of the family. They treattheir pets as their children—sometimes even better.

    InAmerica, there are more families with pets than those with children. 43 percent of U. S. homes have pets. Some of the pets areexotic, such asmonkeys, snakes, butterflies and even wolves. Those animals come from othercountries, especially China, Thailand, South Africa and so on. More common petsinclude fish, mice and birds. However, their favourites are cats and dogs. Theysometimes have strong feelings about whether dogs or cats make better pets."Dog people" and "cat people" often have friendly argumentsabout that.

    People canget many benefits from pets. Pets stay with people, make people happy and helppeople get rid of loneliness. Therefore, most of Americans like pets. Theythink pets should be treated well. At least 75 animal welfare (福利) organizations have been set upin America. They provide care and good services for homeless animals. Some petscan help people live a better life. For example, researchers (研究者) have discovered that getting on with animals can help lower (降低) a person's blood pressure. Dogs can offer protection from strangevisitors. Cats can play games with the children. Some kinds of pets can providelove for their owners. In fact, to keep a pet can help a young couple have theresponsibility to raise children. Pets are as basic to U.S. culture as hot dogsor apple pies. To Americans, pets are not just property (财产), but a part of the family.