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Love them or hate them, pets are an integral part of our society. In Britain
alone, we spend an astonishing £1.3 billion every year on dog and cat
food. But why keep them, asks James Serpell in In the Company of Animals (Canto,
£7.95/$11.95, ISBN 0 521 57779 9)—especially when they’re
often a dirty, noisy, aggressive embarrassment. He believes pets supply a
special kind of emotional support lacking in some human relationships. More
fascinating is our capacity to keep pigs and other farm animals in squalor and
at the same time maintain Rover in the lap of luxury. Immoral or what?