One big item not covered (good article, though, thank you!) was the overall instability of our culture. Especially in the US where family no longer is the support system it once was. The result of increased divorce rates, family members scattered, is that people seek to moor themselves with what family they can pull together. Pets, even cats and birds, give that feeling that you are (1) not alone each day (2) you have to care for someone else and (3) real or imagined connection with another being. I see it as win-win for a society that is struggling mightily against climate change worries, Covid, political mahem, housing insecurity. Just get a dog. ;-)