Pets can be a huge part of someone’s identity and it turns out, including one in a dating profile can help get likes, spark conversation and show something about who you are. The dating app Hily [[highly]] recently polled 29-hundred Gen Z and millennial daters across the U.S. to get an idea of how pets affect modern dating. And it turns out, their pets factor into romantic compatibility more than you might expect.
According to the survey of thousands of daters nationwide, 67% have a pet and 82% of them would pick their pet over a partner if it came down to it.
Nearly two-thirds (65%) admit they instantly want to like someone’s profile if it features a cute pet.
When it comes to pet allergies, 16% of respondents have them. That’s one reason 71% of daters think it’s important to mention pet allergies in a dating profile, something only one in 10 with allergies actually do.
More than a third of allergic daters reveal they’ve hesitated to like someone’s profile because a pet was prominently featured in photos.
While a quarter of daters with pet allergies wouldn’t go out with someone if they were allergic to their pet, 78% would take medication regularly to keep dating the pet owner if they really liked them.
Nearly one in five daters with pet allergies would go as far as hiding their allergy to avoid rocking the boat early in a relationship.
But asking someone to rehome an animal over allergies is a dealbreaker for most. A solid three-quarters of pet-owning daters insist they’d stop dating someone who asked them to give up their pet because of allergies.
A third of those who don’t have pets feel that dating a pet owner means accepting that they’ll never come first.
Another 34% say they wouldn’t pursue someone who seems more emotionally attached to their pet than to people.
Source: Newsweek⠀
photo: GETTY