This quote from John Berger's About Looking critiques the artificial conditions imposed on pets, reflecting on how these constraints mirror the lifestyles and environments of their human owners. It invites contemplation about how closely intertwined our existence is with those we domesticate. Pets, in their constrained lives, become inadvertent symbols of human limitations and disconnections from the natural world.

Berger highlights the irony in the common saying that pets resemble their owners, not in a superficial way, but in a profound environmental and existential sense. The pet's environment—deprived of space, natural cycles, and community—is a direct extension of the confines inherent within the 'small family living unit' humans inhabit. The sterilization or isolation of animals further emphasizes a loss of natural behaviors and freedoms, replaced by human-imposed restrictions and artificial conditions.

This brings forth questions about modern life and the cost of urbanization and domesticity—not only for animals but for humans themselves. As our living environments narrow and become more artificial, both humans and their companion animals lose vital connections with nature and instinctual life. The idea that pets are "creatures of their owners' way of life" poignantly underscores how human culture, choices, and environments imprint themselves on every aspect of life under our control.

Ultimately, this quote asks us to reconsider our relationship with other creatures and challenges us to think about how our lifestyles condition not only ourselves but the living beings we bring into our world.