There seems to be a correlation between pets and happy/unhappy families.
I was raised in an extremely dysfunctional family (8 members) and we never had pets for any length of time. The few who came didn't last long.
Each of us strongly disliked pets (most still do), especially dogs (no exception on my part). Once a brother-in-law brought a dog home as a surprise and my sister went berserk.
When siblings cannot love and respect each other, so it seems they cannot love and respect pets either. My former wife wanted a dog at one time and that almost broke up our marriage there and then. We settled for a cat, he remains with me to this day (I always liked cats).
My attitude to dogs has mellowed a lot over the years but I still won't live with one (barking, smell, garden destruction, poos) but I love to take other people's dog for a walk.
Now understanding the relationship with cats, I appreciate the love between humans and pets much more than before.
But we cannot allow our pets to harass others, intentionally or not. Chasing bikes is not on and can endanger the bike rider's life.
