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[FantasticDorf]

This is just a extension of thoughts coming from the new (or rather 'fixed') behaviour of the tavern keeper's ability to take notice of surrounding dwarves needs and act on them by serving drinks correctly now, and in a sudden brainwave I thought about how animals initially lack depth in management around the fortress (since you can sling them in a hole and forget about the non-grazers)

So i propose that by default to save dwarves being too over-worked running after animals, split between the responsibilites of the pet owner and the dedicated profession of animal caretakers, multiple activities below that are instigated by needs can be togglable from a pasture zone as followed instructions, so you can say that the infamous elk-bird nesting habits can be quickly acted upon.
Feeding your animals

Animals in pasture zones will notice this need and move towards sources of food themselves (grass, bodies, vermin, items etc), or with the activated pasture setting will be hand-fed by dwarves noticing the animals need, leaving behind any refuse. Meaning you can run a round the clock elephant pen, with some hunger subzidized so they don't destroy all the ground foilage.

It can also extend out towards the future, where animals like poultry will likely need to eat seeds or grains and carnivorous animals are correctly dependent on eating the proceeds of dead creatures & prepared meats, seeking to do these routines themselves or having animal caretakers & pet owners run by.

Cleaning your animals

Some animals enjoy dirt and will not express a need to be cleaned being known as [FILTH_LOVING] found amongst animals like pigs who will actively just bathe in any dirt or mud nearby they can find as a inverse without suffering the consequences, but having a dirty hide will build up on most animals and make them more succeptible to disease when they become injured, so dwarves coming by to wash their pets and entrusted animals is a important activity.

• Cleaning your sheep and fur bearing animals regularly of dirt will make their wool regrow faster as a additional benefit, as many real world farmers take some care of their cattle, though in some hot climates they also bathe their animals in dust & mud for practical reasons of keeping them cool and free of pests

• Speaking of pests, cleaning your pets regularly sanitizes them of minor vermin like lice falling off them which can summarily disgust other dwarves, letting a dilligent dwarf take their pet into public places rather than shy the pet-blue peafowl away to the egg laying farms never to be seen again

Cats have the fortunate ability to self-act on this need using their paw-licking behaviour so would need very little maintenance on part of a caretaker or owner chasing over them; other animals might scratch on objects such as boulders to clean themselves.

Petting Animals

Not all animals like to be touched, flavorful tokens such as [SOLITARY] might incline a zero tolerance interest in petting outside of ower-pet or bonded trainer relations, wheras other animals like cats and dogs especially may have [CRAVE_ATTENTION] wherein dwarves other than owners if they are adjacent in a meeting zone may be allowed to pet the animal regularly even if they dont belong to them.

• Lack of subsequent attention might make the animal confused or distractedly sluggish from time to time, and depends heavily on a scope of emotional intelligence, with apes being the most needy creatures but also very reliable when focused.

• Patting any variety of animals makes elves very happy and their natural personalities often mean they can get close, being a animal caretaker in charge of emotionally needy animals who need assurance is for sure a dream job for them.

[Taras]

Pigs like mud for killing parasites. But suggestion is great.

[delphonso]

Urist cancelled job Brush cat: interrupted by dangerous animal.

[FantasticDorf]

I did consider adding more onto discussion about emotional intelligence (like what are the highs and lows of it outside of petting), but it feels like a unspecified AI addition for what we have.

• Maybe creatures like captured dolphins might have a high level of emotional intelligence when stored in aquariums (never minding the bugs about air-drowning in those structures) and require interaction with their playful nature.

On that matter i dont really know whether looking after animals in cages (like 50 queued up jobs to clean fur & feed) should be undertaken without some strict controls, though just putting the pasture zone and the cage to overlap might be a adequate solution. Most players already put each area close to one another for simple sake of management.

Pigs like mud for killing parasites. But suggestion is great.

Very true, i should have probably accounted it'd work in the opposite way instead but i thought it'd be just a nice miscallenous thing to let the player and importantly the animal itself know not to worry about the need. And thank you 

[Pillbo]

Animal first aid would be a high priority for me. Cleaning animals would be great to get rid of FB contaminants.