In last week’s post, “Will Your Pet Be Treated as Property or Heir?”, attorney Kristina Shover reminded our Geyer Law clients that, for responsible pet owners, there is a lot to consider when it comes to making sure your pets have a good life when you are no longer able to care for them. On a lighter note, today’s post offers some actual stories and statistics collated in Mental Floss.com and marketwatch.com about amazing pets and about ways some pet owners have tried to provide for those pets…
- Relative to their bodies, Chihuahuas have the biggest brains in the dog world.
- At the Humane Society of Missouri, kid volunteers comfort anxious shelter dogs by reading to them.
- Dogs are capable of understanding up to 250 different words and gestures.
- Kea parrots are the first known non-mammal species to communicate with infectious laughter.
- In Great Britain and Japan, black cats are perceived as auspicious. In the English Midlands, new brides are given black cats to bless their marriage.
- A recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports found that dogs are more likely to act pessimistically after sniffing an anxious person’s sweat.
- Sixty-six percent of households in the U.S., or 86.9 million, own a pet, according to the American Pet Products (APPA) National Pet Owners Survey of 2023 and 2024
- .According to our survey data, the average U.S. dog owner spends about $2,524 per year or $210 monthly on recurring pet costs.
- An estimated 1 million dogs in the U.S. have been named primary beneficiary in their owners’ wills. (See last week’s blog post!)
Remember, pet lovers, under the law, animals are property, and one piece of property can’t own another piece of property. However, you can plan to make sure that your pet has a good life after you die.
by Ronnie of the Rebecca W. Geyer blog team
