- The Oxford Handbook of Animal Studies
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Animal Rights
- Animals in Political Theory
- Animals as Living Property
- The Human-Animal Bond
- Animal Sheltering
- Roaming Dogs
- Misothery: Contempt for Animals and Nature, Its Origins, Purposes, and Repercussions
- Continental Approaches to Animals and Animality
- Animals as Legal Subjects
- The Struggle for Compassion and Justice through Critical Animal Studies
- Interspecies Dialogue and Animal Ethics: The Feminist Care Perspective
- Cetacean Cognition
- History and Animal Agencies
- What Was It Like to Be a Cow?: History and Animal Studies
- Animals as Sentient Commodities
- Animal Work
- Animals as Reflexive Thinkers: The Aponoian Paradigm
- The Ethics of Animal Research: Theory and Practice
- The Ethics of Food Animal Production
- Animals as Scientific Objects
- The Problem with Zoos
- Wolf Hunting and the Ethics of Predator Control
- Practice and Ethics of the Use of Animals in Contemporary Art
- Animals in Folklore
- Archaeozoology
- Animals and Ecological Science
- Staging Privilege, Proximity, and “Extreme Animal Tourism”
- Commensal Species
- Lively Cities: People, Animals, and Urban Ecosystems
- Animals in Religion
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
Social bonds between people and their pets are more popular than they have ever been. Yet archaeological and anthropological evidence suggests that human-pet bonds have existed throughout history, enduring despite their relative lack of practical utility or material value for humans and, in this sense, presenting a challenge to evolutionary theory. Citing abundant research, the chapter shows that the human-pet relationship should be regarded as “mutualistic,” conferring adaptive benefits on both participants For humans, animal companionship promotes social engagement and alleviates the debilitating mental and physiological effects of psychosocial stress. Animal-assisted therapeutic interventions for people with a variety of cognitive, emotional, and physical disabilities are also becoming increasingly widespread. For animals, the human-animal bond has opened a new ecological niche and allowed dramatic increases in population size. However, the chapter also raises a number of ethical concerns related to animal welfare, public health, and environmental impact.
Keywords: dogs, cats, pets, attachment, social support, oxytocin, animal-assisted intervention
James A. Serpell, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
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- The Oxford Handbook of Animal Studies
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Animal Rights
- Animals in Political Theory
- Animals as Living Property
- The Human-Animal Bond
- Animal Sheltering
- Roaming Dogs
- Misothery: Contempt for Animals and Nature, Its Origins, Purposes, and Repercussions
- Continental Approaches to Animals and Animality
- Animals as Legal Subjects
- The Struggle for Compassion and Justice through Critical Animal Studies
- Interspecies Dialogue and Animal Ethics: The Feminist Care Perspective
- Cetacean Cognition
- History and Animal Agencies
- What Was It Like to Be a Cow?: History and Animal Studies
- Animals as Sentient Commodities
- Animal Work
- Animals as Reflexive Thinkers: The Aponoian Paradigm
- The Ethics of Animal Research: Theory and Practice
- The Ethics of Food Animal Production
- Animals as Scientific Objects
- The Problem with Zoos
- Wolf Hunting and the Ethics of Predator Control
- Practice and Ethics of the Use of Animals in Contemporary Art
- Animals in Folklore
- Archaeozoology
- Animals and Ecological Science
- Staging Privilege, Proximity, and “Extreme Animal Tourism”
- Commensal Species
- Lively Cities: People, Animals, and Urban Ecosystems
- Animals in Religion
- Index
