Humans aren't the only animals that seem to like having pets

had a dog and a cat in the house, both belonged to somebody else, I dont like cats the dog did like cats, and one day I told the dog to feed his cat, which he promptly started doing, picking up kibble with his front teeth and putting them down in front of the cat and maintained the practice. I also have a horse and I regularly see various dogs that become friends and just hang out with/under the horse without any human involvment or supervision, and I watched over time as the horse "trained" a new dog/puppy not to jump at her face and the horse plays host to a new flock of starlings every year that learn that her movements scare up bugs and also that they can land on her back and head and get the bugs that torment her. this is just a bit of the stuff I see without going looking for it, and other reports and documented occurences are everywhere so as someone pointed out "the search for intelligent life in the universe should stop looking up, and just look around"

gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/science/humans-love-havin...