Berkshire County: When You’re Away, What Do You Leave On For Your Pets?

Here's an interesting question for you pet owners in Berkshire County. When you're away for any length of time, whether you're at your job on a regular day or on a mini vacation over the weekend, do you leave anything on for your four-legged companion?

For instance, if you're away for an overnight, do you leave all the lights on? Or maybe just the lights in certain areas of the house? What about the television or the radio? Some background noise so your pet won't feel alone. If so, what do your pets prefer to watch and/or listen to?

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Whenever my soulmate and I go anywhere, we always leave at least one of the televisions on for our beautiful little guy, Prince. Now, our handsome Prince is a new addition to our household, so we're still whittling down his viewing preferences.

Recently, there was an interesting survey conducted by LED lighting pioneer Cree Lighting regarding the extra steps pet owners take before they leave their pets alone in the house.

And you know what? You'd be surprised(or maybe not especially if you're a pet owner yourself) at what people would give up before they would leave their furry companions in the dark.

Cree Lighting surveyed over 1,100 American pet owners over the course of a week back in March and found out some pretty interesting things. For instance, during the 5 hours(on average) that Americans are away from home every day, they tend to leave at least 2 lights on, plus televisions and cooling instruments whether they are fans or air conditioning units, or both.

Another interesting stat to come from the survey, out of the pet owners who leave TVs or radios on, over one-third believe their pet actually watches the television while two-thirds believe their pet actually listens to and enjoys the music they leave on.

One thing you immediately realize upon reading through the survey is that people(thank goodness!) really love their pets. Over half of the survey respondents said that their pets have influenced their furniture purchases.

Also, over two-thirds of pet owners said they would rather give up alcohol for a year before leaving their pets in the dark. And 32% would rather give up their smartphone for a year rather than leave their pets in the dark.

I think my favorite part of the survey came toward the end when pet owners were asked what they specifically leave on for their pets. Some answers were funny, some were surprising, and some were just...weird.

The most common responses to what people leave on the television for their pets were "Animal Planet" and things of that nature. Some of the other responses? "Gunsmoke", "The Office", "Three's Company", "Friends", barnyard videos, and "Sponge Bob Squarepants."

The most common response to what people leave on the radio for their pets was classical music. Some others were "relaxing, spa-type new age-y music", "NPR, for the voices", and "I have Alexa play the soundtrack to Hamilton."

If you're a pet owner or heck, even just an animal lover, you really should check out the survey for yourself. You're in for some interesting reading. Visit Cree Lighting's website for the full survey and check it out!