Declining pet ownership due to computer games

While we now prefer the virtual pets of Nintendogs, The Sims 2, and lots of other games with pets, their real-life counterparts aren’t getting much attention anymore.

In a study made by the Australian Companion Animals Council it was found that the number of dogs has fallen from 4 million in 2000 to 2.75 million in 2007, and cat numbers have fallen from 3.2 million in 1998 to 2.3 million.

Kersti Seksel, the President of the Australian Veterinary Association blames the decline in pet ownership to children preferring computer games over pets. She says:

These days children interact more by playing computer games and less by going out there and throwing the ball to a dog. We need to learn people skills, physical skills, and sitting in the lounge room with a computer doesn’t teach you that.

As much as video games could possibly be the reason for pet ownership decline, we wonder if Ms. Seksel has asked everyone who has chosen not to have a pet if it was because of a recent increase of interest in video games. She also cited the trend toward medium density living as a factor as a reason for decline in pet ownership.

The author personally owns a bunch of pets (two beautiful cats named Evil and Chaos, and a goldfish called Mephisto) and finds no problem taking care of them and playing Neverwinter Nights 2 from sunup to sundown.

Via SMH

While we now prefer the virtual pets of Nintendogs, The Sims 2, and lots of other games with pets, their real-life counterparts aren’t getting much attention anymore.

In a study made by the Australian Companion Animals Council it was found that the number of dogs has fallen from 4 million in 2000 to 2.75 million in 2007, and cat numbers have fallen from 3.2 million in 1998 to 2.3 million.

Kersti Seksel, the President of the Australian Veterinary Association blames the decline in pet ownership to children preferring computer games over pets. She says:

These days children interact more by playing computer games and less by going out there and throwing the ball to a dog. We need to learn people skills, physical skills, and sitting in the lounge room with a computer doesn’t teach you that.

As much as video games could possibly be the reason for pet ownership decline, we wonder if Ms. Seksel has asked everyone who has chosen not to have a pet if it was because of a recent increase of interest in video games. She also cited the trend toward medium density living as a factor as a reason for decline in pet ownership.

The author personally owns a bunch of pets (two beautiful cats named Evil and Chaos, and a goldfish called Mephisto) and finds no problem taking care of them and playing Neverwinter Nights 2 from sunup to sundown.

Via SMH