Fondness for treats led to domestication

[Catherine]

Dogs are definitely on a mission with us. They are going to keep us safe and happy at all costs.
Cats are harder to figure out. And so are the many other animals that we have as pets, that I somehow think want to be pets. Guinea pigs love being pets. They have no desire to go back to the wild.

Even the domesticated snakes do not want to return to the wild. The reason why people find escaped snakes is that they come back and are looking for people to look after them again.

Cats are always wild at heart and yet they want to be with us. If they didn't they would leave. I think they came to us and we won them over with treats. We feel good when we pet them and they feel good when we pet them. We make each other happy. That is no small thing in a life that can be very hard. All our pets bring us happiness.