Something Strange and Interesting in Blade Runner: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

Blade Runner is a very strange, yet interesting, novel.  It is set in the future, for starters, and after I finished the first couple chapters, I had many questions regarding some of the content.  Although I was "up in the air" on many things in the novel, what stood out to me most was how they value their animals.  The main character, Rick Deckard, and his wife own an electric sheep that they tend to and value more than anything they own.  Rick, while arguing with his wife, says that he is saving up to get a real sheep, as opposed to an electric one.  Later on in the chapter, he is discussing the possibility of buying his horse or another one from a magazine.  I find it strange that in the particular time and setting of the story, animals are akin to material objects in today's day and age.  Rick, his wife, and his neighbor all value their animals, just as I value my iPod or may laptop computer.  The animals, to them, are almost status symbols.  If you have a good animal, then you are of higher standing than those who have a lesser animal or no animal at all.