It seems like in the last decades, pets have gone from being mere pets to being “children” or “fur babies”, with all kinds of accompanying services, from pet-sitting, to hair salons for pets, etc. People mark their pets’ birthdays, give them gifts, bring them on holiday, and refer to them as their children, often expecting others to treat them as if they were, indeed, human children.

Is this a completely recent phenomenon or have any cultures treated pets or animals this way in the past?

Note: I do not mean to ask if some cultures revered animals as sacred but, rather, if they treated any animals as if they were human offspring or family members.