According to the World Animal Foundation’s (2025) people around the world now share their homes with more than 470 million dogs and 370 million cats. In Europe, half of all households own a pet. In the United States, pet ownership has jumped from 56% in 1988 to 71% in 2025. Meanwhile, the global pet care industry is on track to reach $300 billion by 2030 — a sign that this isn’t just a trend, but a major shift in how we value and care for the animals closest to us.  

The Science of Pet Longevity—And What It Means for Us 

In recent years, scientists have begun to study ageing in dogs not simply for their benefit, but for ours. At Cambridge University, researchers uncovered a shared obesity gene — DENND1B  — in Labrador retrievers and humans. This gene affects the brain’s ability to regulate hunger and energy. Dogs with this gene begged more for food, much like how people with similar traits may overeat. Yet researchers found that even those genetically predisposed to obesity could avoid it with a strict diet and exercise. The parallels to human health were striking. 

Meanwhile, the Dog Aging Project, a massive ongoing study involving over 35,000 dogs, is testing whether rapamycin, a drug known to extend lifespan in mice, could delay ageing in dogs as well. Early results suggest it may prevent age-related diseases in canines — and if so, this would be one of the most promising real-world models for human ageing ever observed. Unlike lab mice, dogs share our environments: our food, our air, even our daily stressors. Their aging is ours, just accelerated. 

And this goes beyond dogs. Research on long-lived mammals like bats — who can live over 40 years thanks to superior DNA repair mechanisms — points to biological tools we might one day be able to tap into ourselves. 

The Human Question: What If It Were You? 

That brings us to the question at the heart of a global conversation that we at NICA + Voice are encouraging people to engage in. Since early 2025, we’ve been asking a simple but provocative question in an ongoing international survey: 

“Would you rather die healthy at 75, or live to 120 without knowing if you’ll remain healthy?” 

So far, responses have come from people across the world, ranging in age from 18 to 95—and the results are nearly split. Just over 51% say they’d choose to live to 120, even without any guarantees about their health. Nearly 49% prefer to die at 75 if it means staying healthy until the end. 

This close divide reveals something profound. People aren’t just focused on lifespan anymore — they’re thinking about healthspan: the quality of those extra years. We want more time, yes  — but we also want meaning, vitality, and connection.  

So how does this tie back to our pets? 

When we invest in longevity treatments for dogs — when we see a beloved pet not just live longer, but live well — it makes the possibility of human longevity feel real. Tangible. Desirable. We can imagine not just a longer life, but a better one. And perhaps we feel safer exploring that future when we first see it in the creatures we care for so deeply. 

A Mirror with Four Legs 

Longevity medicine often seems abstract — something for labs, not living rooms. But when it enters our homes through the lives of the animals we love, it becomes personal. We see what’s possible. And maybe, we start to believe we deserve the same care, curiosity, and commitment that we give our pets. 

In many ways, our dogs and cats are ageing with us. The difference is that science may help them age better — sooner. If we’re paying attention, their future could offer a mirror into our own. 

So we return to the question: Would you take 75 and healthy — or 120 with uncertainty? For many, it’s not a simple choice. But one thing is certain: as we extend the health and happiness of the animals we love, we’re also rewriting the story of ageing — for them, and for ourselves. 

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Take the survey…..Would you rather die healthy at 75, or live to 120 without knowing if you’ll remain healthy?