I agree we have a pet yes. The hunter class description stated he can control wild beasts way back when WoW was first announced. But just in the last two expansions have they really made pets have a bigger role in the hunter class and giving them special abilities and adding even more to the whole pet scheme (Dire Beasts and Stampede). But saying pets has always been what the hunter class is about and a big part of the strat to the class is incorrect, first and foremost Hunters are a range physical class with pew pew bows and arrows. For Surv and MM pets are just a static dps ability imo, you set them and forget them. I have always played a range class that has some sort of range weapon like a bow or gun in MMOs. I have stuck with my hunter since wow was in beta. I am playing my favorite in WoW so just because I hate pets which is a very small part for hunters (excluding BM of course) does not mean I picked the wrong class.
If blizzard updated the pet AI with all these new pet summon skills hunters have now I would not be as grumpy about this new 2pc summon pet. Yes, I understand we dont know if it will be a dot like AMoCs but I have a feeling it will be like dire beasts.
On a good note, at least it will be a passive.