Animal Studies Commons^™

Assessing Companion Animal Attachment Among Future Latino Human Services Professionals, Yuleinys A. Castillo, Roy K. Chen

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

As the population of individuals from minoritized ethnic background continues to grow in the United States, the relationship between humans and their companion animals can provide valuable information for human services professionals. Attachment to companion animals can play a significant part in clients’ emotional well-being, family dynamics, and quality of life. This study aimed to examine the associations between human attachment with companion animals and their educational training and attitudes about animals. Analysis revealed that relational attachment was significant among Latino students in the study, and particpants’ positive attitudes and beliefs about animals significantly predicted their level of attachment to …

Pet Parenting In The United States: Investigating An Evolutionary Puzzle, Shelly Volsche

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fertility rates continue to decline globally amidst the second demographic transition, marked by urbanization, increased educational attainment, and most importantly, a new flexibility in life-course organization. As a result, some individuals are choosing to bring companion animals in the home rather than raising children. Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore whether these transitions result in differential companion animal attachment and caregiving behavior in the homes of parents (or those who desire to become parents) and nonparents or childfree “pet parents.” Methods A total of 917 respondents completed an online survey via Qualtrics that included demographic questions, the …

The Problem With Dogs, Harry Eckman

WellBeing News

Street dogs are ubiquitous in many parts of the world. And despite all the advances in animal welfare, we focus solely on the symptoms and do not address the root causes.

The Third International Humane Dog Population Management Conference, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

The third International Conference on humane dog management, organized by the International Coalition on Companion Animal Management (ICAM) was held in Mombasa, Kenya in September 2019. There were a range of excellent presentations including one from Sri Lanka on dog management and rabies vaccination in Negombo and another reviewing progress on rabies control globally.

An Exploration Of Attitudes Toward Dogs Among College Students In Bangalore, India, Shelly Volsche, Miriam Mohan, Peter B. Gray, Madhavi Rangaswamy

Anthropology Faculty Research

Conversations in the field of anthrozoology include treatment and distinction of food animals, animals as workers versus pests, and most recently, emerging pet trends including the practice of pet parenting. This paper explores attitudes toward pet dogs in the shared social space of urban India. The data include 375 pen-and-paper surveys from students at CHRIST (Deemed to be University) in Bangalore, India. Reflecting upon Serpell’s biaxial concept of dogs as a relationship of affect and utility, the paper considers the growing trend of pet dog keeping in urban spaces and the increased use of affiliative words to describe these relationships. …

Developing Partnerships To End Dog And Cat “Homelessness”, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Pet food and other pet products are a thriving business across the world but there are still millions of dogs and cats living on the streets without regular access to food and veterinary care. It will take time and money to end pet "homelessness" but the trends are moving in that direction.

How Many Dogs Are In A Particular Place Or Region?, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Over the years, it has always been something of a surprise that so little attention has been given to a better understanding of dog (and cat) demographics in human society. There is a large variation in the results from different surveys with the reported percentage of US households with pets ranging from 49% to 68%.

The Kabul Dog Project, Abdul Jalil Mohammadzai, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

The Mayhew, a London-based animal charity, started its Kabul dog management project in 2015 by conducting a survey of the dog population over February and March of 2015. It was estimated that there were 9,625 observable street dogs in these surveyed districts which translated to a total of around 27,000 street dogs in the city. The survey was followed by an intensive rabies vaccination program.

When ‘Places’ Include Pets: Broadening The Scope Of Relational Approaches To Promoting Aging-In-Place, Ann M. Toohey, Jennifer A. Hewson, Cindy L. Adams, Melanie J. Rock

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Aging-in-place is a well-established concept, but discussions rarely consider that many older adults live with pets. In a ‘pet-friendly’ city, we conducted semi-structured interviews to explore perspectives of community-based social support agencies that promote aging-in-place, and those of animal welfare agencies. Applying a relational ecology theoretical framework, we found that pets may contribute to feeling socially- situated, yet may also exacerbate constraints on autonomy experienced by some older adults. Pet-related considerations at times led to discretionary acts of more-than-human solidarity, but also created paradoxical situations for service-providers, impacting their efforts to assist older adults. A shortage of pet-friendly affordable housing …

Annotated Bibliography: Interaction With Animals (1998-2013), Erich Yahner

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

No abstract provided.

Shelter From The Storm: Companion Animal Emergency Planning In Nine States, Jessica J. Austin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Failure to evacuate pets in an emergency has negative implications for public health, the economy, emotional well-being of pet owners, and physical health of animals. These effects may be at least partially mitigated by a robust plan to accommodate pets. Nine state companion animal emergency plans were reviewed to determine the extent to which they addressed the needs of companion animals, utilizing characteristics of a model emergency plan. States were compared utilizing variables such as population, pet friendliness, and emergency preparedness funding in order to explain differences in plan composition. This comprehensive review produced a list of recommendations for emergency …

Effects Of Companion Animal Ownership Among Canadian Street-Involved Youth: A Qualitative Analysis, Michelle Lem, Jason B. Coe, Derek B. Haley, Elizabeth Stone, William O'Grady

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In Canada, approximately 150,000 youth are homeless on any given night, and many have companion animals. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, this qualitative study explored the issues and effects of companion animal ownership among street-involved youth from the perspective of the youth themselves. "Pet before self" was the substantive theme, with first level sub-themes of "physical" and "emotional" effects. Previously unidentified findings include benefits of having a companion animal, such as creating structure and routine and decreasing use of drugs. Loss of the companion animal was a negative effect. Youth consistently reported making choices to stay with their animal …

The Case Against Dog Breed Discrimination By Homeowners’ Insurance Companies, Larry Cunningham

State of the Animals 2007

Breed discrimination by insurance companies is on the rise in the United States. Insurers are refusing to write homeowners’ policies for people who own breeds that the insurance industry considers to be dangerous. Their decisions are based solely on the breed of the animal, not the individual characteristics of the particular dog. Dog bites are certainly a public health concern. However, the insurance industry’s approach to the problem is based on faulty assumptions and improper use of dog-bite statistics. The insurance industry has prejudged entire breeds of dogs as being “too risky,” instead of taking a more reasonable dog-by-dog approach …

Reasonable Partiality And Animal Ethics, Bernard E. Rollin

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

Moral psychology is often ignored in ethical theory, making applied ethics difficult to achieve in practice. This is particularly true in the new field of animal ethics. One key feature of moral psychology is recognition of the moral primacy of those with whom we enjoy relationships of love and friendship -philia in Aristotle's term. Although a radically new ethic for animal treatment is emerging in society, its full expression is severely limited by our exploitative uses of animals. At this historical moment, only the animals with whom we enjoy philia - companion animals - can be treated with unrestricted moral …

Indoor Cats, Scratching, And The Debate Over Declawing: When Normal Pet Behavior Becomes A Problem, Katherine C. (Kasey) Grier, Nancy Peterson

State of the Animals 2005

When pet animals share our living spaces, their needs and natural behaviors sometimes are at odds with the varying standards for household appearance, sanitation, and polite social life that Americans have established over time. How pet owners have resolved these issues provides insight into their changing ideas about the role of animals in their households and suggests how much, or how little, people may actually know about the biological behaviors and psychological needs of the creatures they care for. This essay examines one particular issue associated with the problem of sharing spaces: declawing pet cats as a common solution to …

Companion Animal Demographics In The United States: A Historical Perspective, Elizabeth A. Clancy, Andrew N. Rowan

State of the Animals 2003

Modern American society recognizes the crucial role of data and information in evaluating and effectively addressing societal problems. Americans are bombarded with information on the economy, public health, social and psychological attitude trends, and other matters that are considered important. For example, no self-respecting politician would think of launching a political campaign or initiative without some sense of what the public might be worrying about. Addressing pet population issues should be no different. Data are needed in order to define the nature and scope of the dog and cat demographic challenge. Data can help people to understand the impact of …

The State Of Wild Animals In The Minds And Households Of A Neotropical Society: The Costa Rican Case Study, Carlos Drews

State of the Animals 2003

The study of attitudes in a society provides insight into variables that may be pertinent to people’s everyday decisions and practices involving animals. This essay addresses the relationship between attitudes, knowledge, and behavior in the context of the protection of wild animals in the Neotropics and ventures to draw some conclusions about the state of wild animals from this perspective. The Neotropics, a biogeographical region that extends from the Yucatan peninsula to the southern tip of South America, includes some of the most biodiverse countries of the world. Its nations share a common history of Iberian colonization but are nonetheless …

Fertility Control In Animals, Jay F. Kirkpatrick, Allen T. Rutberg

State of the Animals 2001

There are, effectively, only two choices for actively managing the size of animal populations: reducing the birth rate and increasing the death rate. (Local population size may also be controlled by movement of individuals in and out; but when the size of animal populations concerns us, movement of individuals merely relocates the concerns. We are not absolved of our responsibility for animals simply because they go somewhere else.) Killing certainly can reduce and even destroy wildlife populations if enough animals of the right description are removed from the population. Until the last decade of the twentieth century, however, fertility control …

Overview: The State Of Animals In 2001, Paul G. Irwin

State of the Animals 2001

From the animals’ perspective, the past half-century has not been one of uninterrupted progress. Indeed, as some conditions have improved, others have remained frustratingly unchanged, and still others have undoubtedly deteriorated.

How then to assess progress and failure? In the absence of a universally accepted, consistently applied set of standards for data collection and analysis, any attempt to answer the question, What is the state of animals in 2001?, must be based on a series of snapshots, an accumulation of statistics from which we can draw conclusions.

A Framework For Assessing The Suitability Of Different Species As Companion Animals, C. A. Schuppli, D. Fraser

Wild and Exotic Animals as Pets Collection

Municipal regulations and humane movement policies often restrict or discourage the use of 'exotic' species as companion animals. However, confusion arises because the term 'exotic' is used in various ways, and because classifying species as exotic or non-exotic does not satisfactorily distinguish suitable from unsuitable companion animals. Even among commonly kept species, some appear to be much more suitable than others. Instead, decisions about suitable companion animal species need to be based on a number of relevant issues. As ethical criteria, we considered that keeping a companion animal should not jeopardize - and ideally should enhance - its welfare, as …

T-61 Use In The Euthanasia Of Domestic Animals: A Survey, Andrew N. Rowan

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

A variety of techniques have been proposed and employed for the killing of domestic animals but relatively few have survived as suitable agents for euthanasia-namely, the induction of painless, suffering-free death. Some agents, such as strychnine, curariform agents, or potassium salts cause suffering while others have other disadvantages. 'lbday, dogs and cats are commonly euthanatized with sodium pentobarbital or with T-61 which is a mixture of a central nervous system narcotic, a paralytic agent, and a local anesthetic. The use of T-61 was first reported in the United States in 1963 (Quin 1963). The substance gradually became more popular because …

A Response To Dr. Ian Dunbar, Graham Henderson

Pets Collection

In his article, "A Strategy for Dog Owner Education," (2(1):13-15, 1981), Dr. Ian Dunbar reveals his masterplan: Pet owners are not, he claims, irresponsible, they are for the most part merely "ignorant." We must, therefor, educate them, and to do this we must somehow contrive to have potential pet owners apply for a license before they may obtain their dog. At the same time as this initial application is made, the hopeful candidate would be issued with an information package, the content of which he or she would be tested on at some indeterminate future date. Although a failure to …

Special Report On Controlling America's Pet Population

Special Reports

HSUS estimates that public and private animal control programs cost the nation as much as $500 million a year. Much of this expense is required for the feeding and care of unwanted animals during the 5 to 10 days they are held for adoption, killing the 80% that are not adopted or redeemed, and disposing of the carcasses. The result is both an unconscionable waste of life and a needless drain on public and private money.

A large part of the blame for people undertaking pet ownership without having made a total commitment to the animal lies with the pet …

Our Pet Population Explosion And Operation Spared, Kay Clausing

Pets Collection

All humane societies are dedicated to preventing cruelty and suffering. No society can effectively prevent cruelty unless it makes spaying compulsory for all females released for adoption and talks spaying to every owner of a female. Even if the home is a good one in every other respect, if a female is permitted to produce even one litter, the humane society is simply delaying or postponing cruelty. In fact, it is perpetuating it. When the female (which your society otherwise placed so carefully) has a litter, often its owners are not qualified to judge what constitutes a good home. In …