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If pets should be able to fight, then really ALL pets should be able to fight, and I don't really see my mudcrab deal mad damage to the NPC's I encounter. I don't really think there's a plan on making them fight though.
I can asure you it wasn't. It may have seem that way since the dwemer sphere sometimes takes a battle stance and rolls around you. It must have happened when the person you saw was fighting and gave you that impression.
The sorcerer can summon two pets via their abilities. The clannfear makes for an interesting taking pet and the twilight matriarch does a nice job of emergency healing. They allow for a nice solo PvE option for certain content.