I totally agree. In fact, I will go out on a limb here and say something that some (or maybe even most) may not agree with but "pet" isn't something that most Jamaican people would think to call their animals. Maybe around Negril there may be more but out on the island dogs and the occasional cat are tolerated and fed but not often shown much affection.
Dogs are usually kept to warn of an intruder and cats to chase off rats. Where we mostly like quiet dogs, they mostly want loud, barking dogs.
Just my observation.