Much of my canine predilection stems from the way I was raised. My father loved dogs, and even more, he loved to hate cats. I know it's not very PC. But neither is my dad. He had a special fondness for those "cat hater" cartoons and would often cut them out of newspapers and magazines and tack them on the refrigerator door. He was also vigilant about chasing the neighborhood cats out of our yard and away from the birds' nests (legend has it with a BB gun, although I never actually witnessed this bird-driven bravado in person). The way he saw it, birds were better than cats and he had no problem letting his bias be known — feline fans be damned. I've often marveled at the underlying divisiveness of pet preferences. "Do you like cats?" (or dogs, or ferrets...) can be a make-or-break question. Can hardcore cat people and dog people date? Or should they just be friends? Where do bird people fit in? Or people with a penchant for hermit crabs? And are exotic pet owners in a social class all their own? I suppose that's why online dating sites like datemypet.com/ exist. Because pet-compatibility matters. So, why do we choose the pets we do? (And do we choose them or do they choose us?) What's their power of attraction? Are our preferences constant or fluid (e.g. can cat people become dog people and vice versa)? What do you think? Source: SFGate.com