Why do pets have armor class & other stats?

Does your pet's armor class get added to your own? I don't see my pet getting hit by the mob or other players so why do the pets have armor class? And if the pets have armor class does that suggest they have hps and thus can get hit and loose health? So this is the same question as some of the non-fighting stats on the pets like Int, Pre, Mre, Reg, Mst, Pst - why would they also have these if pets can't cast spells or has no energy & mana, does their Pre, Mre, and Reg get added on to your own? I was able to add (non fighting - Pre, Mre,etc.)enchanting stone to my pet but I don't know if it helps me or not.

Armor Class is supposedly for bragging rights.

If you increase an attacking pet's strength the damage is increased.

Supposedly increasing a healing pet's INT will increase the healing.

None of the pet's stats get added into your own. It's just simpler coding to give pets all stats. They may have future use, who knows.