Attachment to pets and interpersonal relationships: Can a four-legged friend replace a two-legged one?

The goal of the present research is to investigate pet attachment and measure the connection between owner-pet attachment and interpersonal attachment characteristics of dog owners and cat owners, social support and loneliness. From a sample of 268 dog and 97 cat owners, significant differences on pet attachment appeared between pet owners’ gender, owners living location, kinds of pets and the length of ownership. The pedigree of pets influenced owner-pet attachment levels.