Well, as far as my family goes, I've been an animal lover since birth and no one there is surprised! However, since my dh and I have no human children, others often make comments like, "well, you have so many animals since you don't have any kids". Like somehow, that excuses us
Surround yourself with other animal lovers. We went to a "dog club" for doggie socialization, and when it closed we kept it going in our own back yard. When you spend a lot of time around others who love animals, the comments from others stop registering!