Is it wrong to keep cats and dogs as pets?

Most pet owners gush about loving their cat, rat or puppy, but a new book questions whether love is enough.

“We feel love for our companions, certainly, and happiness at the thought that we’re providing them with a safe, healthy life. But there’s another emotion, less often acknowledged, that can be nearly as powerful: guilt,” writes bioethicist Jessica Pierce in “Run, Spot, Run: The Ethics of Keeping Pets,” a just-released book about whether it’s moral to keep animals as pets.

“When we see our cats gazing wistfully out the window, or watch a goldfish swim lazy circles in a bowl, we can’t help but wonder: are we doing the right thing, keeping these independent beings locked up, subject to our control? Is keeping pets actually good for the pets themselves?”

Pierce has had pets herself, including dogs, cats, fish, hermit crabs and rats, but told NPR that the “pets as family” narrative is actually a corporate sell pushed by the $50 million per year pet industry.

While many families do treat pets well, and know that loving them requires sacrifice and can be a challenge, others take pets for granted and see their animals as disposable, Pierce writes. About 30 percent of pet dogs and cats never once visit a veternarian.

This story was originally published May 5, 2016 at 10:39 AM with the headline "Is it wrong to keep cats and dogs as pets?."