If your primarily using it for taking shots of your pets and family almost any new dslr from Canon, Nikon, Sony, or Olympus would serve you well. Your primary expense should be the glass. It makes the biggest difference and all the above brands have excellent lenses available.
Go to dpreview.com and read their detailed reviews, you won't find a better resource for digital camera reviews anywhere.
Look at their sample pictures from each camera. Every brand's ccd and logic algorithms process colors and tone slightly different. If you like the "feel" of the pictures from a certain brand there is probably a reason. I still shoot with my old 10 mp Olympus dslr because I love how it renders tone.
The other important factor is to go to a camera store and play with each camera you're considering. They all feel different and have different ergonomics, menus, controls etc. It stinks to get a camera that had all the features but feels uncomfortable in your hands.
Finally, don't count mega pixels. More isn't always better, especially if they are crammed on a small ccd. Look for frames per second and a fast lens over megapixels.
I've been playing with cameras since... Well I thought digital was a stupid fad, for that long. And can give general tips, I'm not 100% up to date on the newest from the last few years but I've bought and used a lot of cameras over the years and above is what I've found to matter.
