A leading pet food manufacturer recently conducted a nationwide survey of pet owners to gauge just how important pets were in there lives. Here's what they found:

• 76 percent allow their pets to sleep on their beds
• 78 percent think of their pets as their childre
• 84 percent display photos of their pets, mostly in their homes
• 84 percent think that their pets react to their own emotions
• 100 percent talk to their pets
• 97 percent think that pets understand what they're saying