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What purpose, if any, do pets really serve? Are they simply an outlet for misplaced love? Or four-legged friends who help us to satisfy vital emotional needs? Whatever they are, when we elevate pets to the status of social companions, we undermine the distinction between human and non-human. In other words, pets force us to confront the moral contradictions inherent in our treatment of animals in general. Pursuing this idea to its logical conclusion, the author uncovers a fascinating and disturbing trail of myths, evasions and double standards which humans have used since earliest times to justify their subjugation of nature and other life forms. Through an exploration of the phenomenon of pet-keeping across history and between cultures, this thought-provoking study reassesses our relationships with animals and the natural world. This new edition of In the Company of Animals has been substantially revised and updated to take into account developments in research since the first edition was published in 1986.
Over the past 30 years there has been a tremendous growth in interest in the multidisciplinary field of human-companion animal interactions and relationships. This is not surprising considering that pets are kept in at least half of the households in Western societies. What then, is so special about the relationships people have with their pets? Are we very different from our ancestors in the ways we feel about animals? What does pet-keeping tell us about ourselves and our relationships with people? Can pets be good for our health? Do they help promote empathy for other humans? These questions and more are explored in this book. Companion Animals and Us brings together some of the newest research from a wide variety of disciplines including anthropology, history, psychology, sociology, human and veterinary medicine. This book will make fascinating reading for anyone interested in understanding more about the human-pet relationship.
Intellectual struggles with the "animal question"-- how humans can rethink and reconfigure their relationships with other animals-- first began to take hold in the 1970s. Over the next forty years, scholars from a wide range of fields would make sweeping reevaluations of the relationship between humans and other animals. The Oxford Handbook of Animal Studies brings these diverse evaluations together for the first time, paying special attention to the commodification of animals, the degradation of the natural world and a staggering loss of animal habitat and species extinction, and the increasing need for humans to coexist with other animals in urban, rural and natural contexts. Linda Kalof m...
Second edition of a classic text on canine science and behavior, incorporating two decades of new evidence and discoveries.
By any standards, dogs are extraordinary animals. They have been part of human society for longer than any other domestic species. They exist in a greater variety of different shapes and sizes, and they occupy a wider ecological niche, from pampered pets and faithful servants to feral scavengers. Even our attitudes to dogs seem to oscillate between extremes. On the one hand, the dog is man's best friend, on the other, he is the despised and degraded outcast. This unique book seeks to expose the real dog beneath the popular stereotypes. Its purpose is to provide a comprehensive, state-of-the-art account of the domestic dog's natural history and behaviour based on scientific and scholarly evidence rather than hearsay. Anyone with a serious interest in Canis familiaris, its evolution, behaviour, and its place in our society will find The Domestic Dog an indispensable and fascinating resource.
Back in the 1940s, the practice referred to as Opound seizureO became a common practice in taxpayer-funded animal shelters across the country. Whether for cosmetic testing, human or animal drug testing, medical technique and tool testing, or biochemical testing, these once-family pets are subjected to experimentation that often ends in death. While many states fail to keep accurate data, the number of pets that become victims of pound seizure easily reaches the thousands and though most citizens are unaware of the practice, it may very well be happening at their local animal shelter. Pound seizure remains a dirty little secret in American society, but the practice is moving toward extinction with the help of local citizens advocating for change at their shelter, as well as animal rescue and welfare organizations providing assistance and advocacy. Learning more about the practice, as well as alternatives, will help give readers a fuller picture of whatOs happening in American animal shelters and what they can do to stem the tide of dealers and brokers sweeping off animals to their almost-certain demise.
Vols. for 1902- include decisions of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and various other courts of the District of Columbia.
This is the first book to examine children's many connections to animals and to explore their developmental significance. Gail Melson looks not only at the therapeutic power of pet-owning for children with emotional or physical handicaps, but also the ways in which zoo and farm animals, and even certain television characters, become confidants or teachers for children--and sometimes, tragically, their victims.
Includes decisions of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1902-1934, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1934-1959, and various other courts of the District of Columbia.
Do animals have moral rights? If so, which ones? How does this affect our thinking about agriculture and experimentation? If animals have moral rights, should they be protected by law? These are some of the questions addressed in this collection, which contains more than 30 papers spanning nearly 40 years of debates about animal rights. It includes work by leading advocates of animal rights both in philosophy and law, as well as contributions by those resolutely opposed to the very idea of animal rights. A substantial Introduction surveys key arguments in the area and puts the papers in context.