Talent shows, painting nails and playing dress up isn’t just for children anymore. Dressing a pet seems to be the new fashion trend, as seen on TV with Paris Hilton’s mini Chihuahua she carries in her small Channel purse. But in the end, many students and professors believe treating your pet like it’s part of the family is what you’re supposed to do and dressing it up or taking it to lunch is nothing unusual.

“Dressing up a pet is just adding a personal touch, it’s showing you care for them,” Tracey Romero, 20, biology major, said. “I personally own two birds and I used to own a cat. With my cat, I always dressed him up just to keep him warm. I know he was a house cat, but it was cute to watch him strut around in his little sweater.”

According to a new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, pets offer the same emotional benefits as human friendships.

Miami University and St. Louis University administered a questionnaire to 217 people and found that participants with pets scored better.

Researchers also looked to see if pet owners experienced greater benefits from owning a pet, and pet owners where found to be fulfilling their needs as far as loneliness or depression.

Researchers also had students write about their pets and found that writing passages about pets was just as likely to alleviate certain feelings as writing passages about humans friend did.

“After my grandma died, all I had left was my two cats,” Nicole Johnson, 18, nursing major said. “I felt like my cats filled that empty void in my life and these were my grandmothers cats, which made them even more special.”
Jeanne Bellemin, zoology professor, also said she also believes that pets can build responsibility for students. She said that not only do students build a strong emotional connection with their pets, they also have to learn how to take care of them.

“Having pets, like a dog, is a precursor to even having kids,” Bellemin said. “Life is so full of responsibilities as you get older and having a pet can allow students to appreciate that that’s just how life is.”

The biology department has its own pets that live on campus, and Bellemin said, students had the chance to name many of the animals.

“We have a corn snake and tortoises that are endangered,” Bellemin said. “We put a piece of paper outside of their cages and had a contest to decide their names. A lot of students gave their suggestions and took interest in it and I think that’s indicative to how people really feel about their pets.”

Some students like to keep their pets by their side and Nina Pennington, 19, zoology major, said it helps to make her feel complete.

“My friends think I’m crazy because I literally take my dog everywhere,” Pennington said. “Rust is his name because he has brown and black spots that reminded us of rust spots on a drain pipe. It’s kind of funny every time I think about why we named him that, but I can’t see myself without him.”

However, some students believe placing your pet in shows and dressing a pet like it’s a real person is just too much.

“The dog is not an accessory and will not get a lot of exercise if it’s in a purse or something,” Caitlyn Davis, 19, liberal arts major said.

She loves all three of her dogs, but she said she believes that dressing it up is just taking it a little too far.

“I own three dogs a Chihuahua, Cocker Poo and an American Eskimo,” Davis said. “I think dogs are definitely a part of the family but you don’t want to spoil the dog.”

Though some believe pet owners may go too far, others rescue their animals.

Eric Sanders, 20, accounting major, owns a bearded dragon named Spike. He said owning an exotic pet takes patience since it won’t necessarily play like a dog, but that’s it’s just as good to watch it in its natural habitat.

“He sleeps on this really big branch in his cage and it’s so cool,” Sanders said. “It definitely lifts my spirits to see him. I admit it, I stand in front of the tank and talk to him and feed him crickets.”

Regardless of what type of animal a student or instructor owns, or whether they decide to dress them up or not, most pet owners love their animals.

“When you care about pets, you care about the environment and pets give people so much love,” Bellemin said. “I think pets and people go together.”