Pets really are a kid’s best friend

FROM Toto in The Wizard of Oz to faithful collie Lassie, animals have often been portrayed as a child’s best friend.

Now researchers at Edinburgh University have discovered Scottish children not only consider their pets close pals – they even tell them their secrets.

A pioneering study looked at responses from 1217 pupils at 24 primary schools across Scotland, and found 92% of those who owned pets considered them “a friend”.

Some 74% said they sometimes talked with their pet and understood what it was trying to tell them.

And 72% believed their pet knows when they are upset and try to comfort them.

Meanwhile, 78% said they talk with their pet “quite a lot”, and many told how they confide in them.

The research, which also involved the Scottish SPCA, also revealed 85% of children who had a pet said there were times they would be lonely without it.

Few previous studies have considered children’s attachment to pets and its importance in their development and behaviour towards animals.

There is growing evidence, however, that children can form emotional attachments with pets consistent in some ways – such as affectional bonds and special friendship – with human attachment.

Researcher Roxanne Hawkins, of Edinburgh University’s School of Health in Social Science, who led the study, said: “Our results demonstrate that children – at least in this Scottish sample – are highly attached to their pets.”

The strongest attachments were with dogs, followed by cats and small mammals. The lowest scores were for birds.