theory, has come a renewed acceptance of anthropomorphism. prehistory to the present, including archaeozoology, anthro Ethologists have been joined by psychologistsand philosophers pology and sociology; (ii) the effects of associations with in research into the minds of animals. This multidisciplinary animal companions on the development of personality, field of research, known as cognitive ethology, has resulted attitudes and other traits in humans, encompassing psychology in a multitude of investigations into consciousness, cogni and psychiatry; (iii) the therapeutic effects of companion tion, self-awareness and intelligence, as well as on whether animals; and (iv) the ethology of human—animalinteractions. animals feel pain, anger, fear, loveand have a theory of mind. A further two decades on, knowledge has increased in all of With the expanding research into animal minds has come these areas, and there have also been attempts to forge links the general realization that anthropomorphism does not between them to develop underlying theories of the human— disrupt scientific observation but supports the continuity animal ‘bond’, which will be covered in the latter part of this between humans and animals. A strong supporter of this view entry. is Frans de Waal who, in writing about attitudes to anthro— The roles of animals in human cultures have often been pomorphism, cites the example of his chimpanzee, Georgia, studied from an anthropocentric viewpoint and so fall who regularly ‘plays a trick’ on visitors by taking a drink of outside the scope of this volume. Archaeozoology has made a water and then spraying them with it from her cheek pouches valuable contribution towards our understanding of the (Waal, 2001). Waal then discusses whether believing that the behaviour and appearance of modern companion animals, by chimpanzee is consciously ‘playinga trick’ is an anthropomor enabling us to trace the early course of their domestication. phism; he argues that the most parsimonious conclusion is to However, for the domestic dog there are currently serious assume that the chimpanzee and the humans have a cognitive discrepancies between the timing of domestication as indicated similarity based on their close evolution, and he proposes the by archaeology and that suggested by the molecular biology of term ‘anthropodenial’ for the rejection of shared characteristics modern dogs and wolves. Moreover; the main focus of between humans and animals. archaeology and historical studies has been on the contribu It is from this milieu that the study of the interactions tions of animals to changes in human society, rather than on between humans and animals is developing, and the investi human—animalrelationships. For example, the use of horses is gators in this field of research may be truly called the new cited as a major factor in the domination of the advanced anthropomorphists, to whom improvements in animal welfare societiesof South America by a comparatively small number of are of prime importance. (JC-B) Spaniards. At the population level, the domestication of animals provided opportunities for infectious agents of animals Reference and further reading to transfer to the human host, creating such modern diseases as smallpox, influenza, tuberculosis, measles and cholera. Most Kennedy, j.S. (1992) The New Anthropomorphism.Cambridge of these appear to have originated in agricultural animals, one UniversityPress,Cambridge,UK. exception being the possible origin of whooping cough Waal,F de (2001) TheApeand the SushiMaster; CulturalR/lections (pertussitis) in the dog. bya Primatologist.AllenLane,PenguinPress,London. However, relationships can occasionally be deduced from archaeologicalfinds: the puppy found in a Mesolithic grave of Anthrozoology 12,000 YBP, buried beneath the hand of an elderly human, was Anthrozoology is the study of animal—humaninteractions. presumably a pet, whereas the knife marks found on some cat The combination of anthro-, meaning of humans, and zoology bones from mediaeval sites in Britain indicate that these first appeared in 1987 as the title of the journal Anthrozoös, animals had been killed to make cat-skin coats. and was later used for the name of the International Society The idea that pet keeping has a positive benefit on child for Anthrozoology (although anthropozoology would be more development is not a new one, although the underlying con correct etymologically).Applied literally,anthrozoology would cepts have changed. For example, many Victorians believed therefore encompass much of conservation science, animal that companion animals in the household could be used to welfare and applied animal ecology,but it is normally applied teach children an abhorrence of cruelty and the value of to studies of associ’itions,and especiallyrelationships, between gratitude and fidelity, emotions that pets were presumed to individual humans and individual animals, rather than to display towards their owners, and these attitudes havepersisted Interactions that take place at the population level, Anthro— in many societies up to the present day. More recently the zoology encompasses, but is not restricted to, study of the research emphasis has switched to the effects of pet keeping human—animal ‘bond’. ft should logically also include on the development of empathy. Pet keeping in childhood unsuccessful and dysfunctional interactions (although it rarely seems to be reliably associated with positive attitudes towards does). animals in young adulthood, and there appears to be a link The current tradition of research into human—animal between empathy towards animals and empathy towards interactions is usually considered to have begun with a paper humans. by the psychiatrist Boris Levinson in 1962, which described Empathy is a complex construct that is generally considered the effects of interaction with a dog on a young patient of his. to have both cognitive (‘I can imagine what you are thinking’) Two decades later; by which time several research centres had and affective (‘I can feel what you are feeling’) components, appeared, particularly in the USA, Levinson addressed one of and it is not yet clear precisely which aspects are most affected the first major conferences in this ficld, in Philadelphia, where by pet keeping.The fessstudies of pets used as an intervention he sugestcd four areas on which future research might focus’ in educational settings have generally reported an increase in (i) the role ot companion animals in human cultures from empathy, but associations between pet ownership and empathy ANTHROZOOLOGY 29
in children appear to be more complex: for example, one study disabilities, perhaps because interaction with the dog is found slightly higher empathy in dog owners, but lower experienced as non-judgemental and unconditIonally positive. empathy in cat owners, compared with non-owners. Since Ethology, the study of the behaviour of animals in their most family pets are chosen by parents, the latter association natural habitat, has made only a limited contribution to could be due to a personality characteristic of parents that anthrozoology, largely because in its modern form it drives both a preference for cats as pets and an inhibition of specifically addresses, or at least implies, the evolutionary the development of empathy in children, rather than a negative origins and adaptive functions of behaviour. These are not easy effect association that a cat has on the development ofempathy. to unravel for domesticated animals whose behaviour has been Whatever the mechanisms involved, it seems likely that both consciously and unconsciously selected by man. However, different species of companion animals may have different ethological concepts such as dominance, territoriality and effects on emotional development, and that classifying them imprinting have been widely used to interpret the behaviour all as ‘pets’ may be an oversimplification. Moreover, research of pet animals. For example, the behavioural disorders of pet in this field has overwhelmingly focused on the development cats are often divided into those of ethological origin, i.e. of desirable traits, and the possibility that not all pets may be normal behaviour that would have been adaptive to the cat’s beneficial for all children has barely been considered, even wild ancestors but is objectionable to owners, such as spray- though links have been established between abuse of animals urination, and those that are abnormal, such as pica. and violence towards people. The concept of socialization, largely derived from the A variety of benefits to health have been proposed for pet ethological theories of imprinting and sensitive periods, is the ownership, and for emotional attachments to animals, and cornerstone of our understanding of how young companion there has been much discussion about the role of pets in animals learn to react to humans and other species, and how enhancing various aspects of human quality of life. In societies behavioural disorders can result from deficiencies in this where they are well accepted, dogs act as catalysts for social process. In addition, ethological methods, involving the interactions, especially between owners and people they have detailed observation of animals in their normal surroundings, not met before, thereby expanding existing social networks. with minimal interventions, have been used to provide detailed Similar effects have been observed for trained assistance dogs, descriptions of interactions between pets and their owners. For such as those used as guide dogs and for people with other example, they have been used to differentiate between the disabilities, and it has been suggested that these benefits may competitive play that takes place between two dogs, and the he as important as those arising from the work that the dogs sociallyinteractive play between dogs and people. are trained to do. Comparable effects due to other pet species are less well documented. Physical contact with a friendly pet Theories of the human—animal ‘bond’ has often been demonstrated to have a relaxing effect, for Anthrozoology has usually been studied by specialists from example by lowering blood pressure, although the undoubted one of the constituent disciplines referred to above, but at its stress occasionally generated by pets, for example when they core it is multidisciplinary, and attempts have been made to misbehave,has received little research attention. explain the keeping of pet animals, especially dogs and cats, More contentious has been the idea that pet keeping may be using various theoretical frameworks, in an attempt to arrive at generally beneficial to mental and physical health, and an explanation of the human—animal ‘bond’. Some have specificallyprotect against cardiac illnesses. Such beliefs have adopted a biologicalperspective, for example those based upon apparently become widespread among Western societies, but traditional comparative zoology and ethology. supporting scientific evidence has often been equivocal or In the terminology of comparative zoology the relationship ambiguous. Several studies in different countries have between owner and pet could potentially be classified as reported fewer visits to doctors among pet owners than commensalism, mutualism or parasitism. Some domesti 4.omparable non-owners, but these findings are generally cated species may have initially had a commensal relationship correlational rather than cause and effect. Moreover, not all with man, probably as scavengers, including the wolf, the have factored out the effects of additional exercise that dog progenitor of the dog, and possibly the pig. Domestic animals ownership normally incurs. Overall, it appears likely that pet primarily kept for their utilitarian value, such as dairy cattle or osnership is associated with slightly better health, but the guarding dogs, have a mutualistic relationship with man in mechanisms invoked are still far from clear, and in considering ishich costs and benefits are deliberately balanced out by the the possible health benefits that pets might provide it is human partner. Pet keeping is undeniably costly for owners: important to allow for the likelihood that unhealthy people for example, in the USA more than US$20 billion is spent may be unlikel to acquire pets and more likely to relinquish annually on pet food and pet health care. Since pets return no ownership. immediate economic benefit to their owners, some authors Levinson was originally inspired to consider the benefits of have classified them as social parasites, analogous to the pet keeping by the effects of the presence of his dog on the cuckoo chick in the nest of its foster parents. behaviour of otheri ise uncommunicative children who came Supporters of this idea have pointed out that the foster- to him for psychotherapy, and he proposed that the dog had parents presumably find it rewarding to feed the cuckoo chick, acted as a ‘bridge’ for the establishment of rapport between even though the inadvertently incur substantial biological hild and therapist. Since his pioneering work, such effects cost in the process. In this conceptualization, therefore, the havebeen sideh obsered (see: Animal-assisted therapy). emotional rewards of pet keeping experienced by the owner are Interaction with dogs, in particular, has a strong morn ational no defence against the charge of parasitism. IIosever, pet effect on mans children ssith both phstcal and learning keeping has tsso distinct differences from the cuckoo—typeof
often
relationships
judgemental.
are
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pet
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30
From
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explain
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be
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become
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with
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as
mouse).
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make
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superficially
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Historically
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thought
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it
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as
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is
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flat-faced
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that
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that
learn
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enables
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pets
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house,
evident
functional
than
man.
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theory.
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interesting
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possession
evidence
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pets
originally Owners
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keeping
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pointed
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ponent
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another
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evidence
as
also
secretion
kidney
to homeostasis,
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tary
hypothalamic Antidiuretic
vasopressin Antidiuretic
Serpell,
Serpell,
Fawcett,
Beck,
Archer,
Further
‘collectors’.
borne
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for
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and
have studies
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feelings
usually
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ADH
memory;
insert
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83—100.
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J.A.
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Cambridge,
language as
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membrane
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obtained
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(2003)
human—animal
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Why
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experience
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ways
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237—259.
animals
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predators.
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Indiana.
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and
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parent—child
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and
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nonapeptide (Canto).
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functions
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is
patterns.
demonstrated
the
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for
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secreted
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channels
use
relationship),
are
(1996)
die
with
predators implicated
(2001)
first
triggered interaction
the
love
of
of
(for
response’.
is
wild.
death
people
the hormone,
in
investigation
ofAnimals.
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when
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concentrated
teaching
becoming
humans.
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into
prior
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osmoreceptors;
development
reintroduction)
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interactions
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from
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may
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interact
Purdue
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by
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and
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than
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Cambridge
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close
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University urine.
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