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2 3 8 J. Archer pets in the western world. Historically, they are also those with which humans inter- act most closely, as they are allowed to run freely in p e o p l e ' s homes. I then outline why pet ownership poses an evolutionary problem and examine three attempts to account for it: these are the view that strong attachment to a pet indicates a poor capacity for human relationships, that it results from modern living conditions, par- ticularly affluence, and that pet ownership confers benefits for health and psycho- logical well-being. I shall argue that none of these provides a satisfactory explanation for the evolution o f pet ownership, and I then consider the possibility that pets are, in evolutionary terms, manipulating human responses, that they are the equivalent of social parasites. I conclude that this is the most likely explanation, rather than some form o f mutual benefit. The precise human mechanisms that allow them to be manipulated in this way are then discussed: they include both features that provide the initial attraction to the animal, and continuing features of the interaction with the pet that prove satisfying for the owner. The existence of such mechanisms, which have all evolved to enhance fitness within the context o f h u m a n - h u m a n interac- tions, can, in some circumstances, lead to pet owners obtaining more satisfaction from their pet relationships than from those with humans. T H E I N T E N S I T Y O F P E O P L E ' S A T T A C H M E N T T O T H E I R P E T S Anecdotal accounts o f the importance of p e o p l e ' s emotional attachment to their pets are numerous. Extreme examples such as legal disputes over pet custody (Freedland 1994) and a dog being designated best man at a wedding (Hickrod and Schmitt 1982) attract the attention o f the media, but there are many more commonplace examples o f the enormous amount o f affection, time, and money that people in mod- e m western societies lavish on their pets. Examples include offering rewards when they are lost, paying for their grooming and health care, buying them presents, and, o f course, feeding them. From a Darwinian perspective, this all adds up to fitness benefits being conferred on the pet; the fitness costs to humans (i.e., the effects on their reproductive success) are difficult to quantify, but it is reasonable to assume that the impact of such affection, time, and money being directed to pets instead of human kin would not be negligible. There are a small number o f systematic studies o f the h u m a n - p e t relationship in terms o f attachment, a concept usually applied to close relationships between members of the same species, including humans (Ainsworth 1989; Bowlby 1969). Katcher et al. (1983) designed a 10-item questionnaire consisting of statements that would indicate positive attachment to a pet dog, such as carrying its photograph, let- ting it sleep on the bed, frequently talking to and interacting with it, and defining it as a family member. The scale was administered to 80 veterinary clinic clients. Al- though no conventional reliability statistics were carried out, frequency data for the individual items indicated high levels o f attachment to the dogs. For example, 48% defined their dog as a family member, 67% had a photograph o f the dog, 73% let it sleep in the bedroom, and 40% celebrated its birthday. Further analysis o f these data

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