PEOPLE & ANIMALS – FOR LIFE The Conference is hosted on behalf of the International Association of Human-Animal Interaction Organizations by the Swedish IAHAIO members 12th International IAHAIO Conference JULY 1-4, 2010 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN Venue: City Conference Center - Folkets Hus in Stockholm Website: www.iahaio2010.com Abstract Book Major Sponsors 2 Table of Contents Plenary Sessions 4 Plenary 1-9 5 Oral Sessions (Thursday July 1) 14 Oral 1-12 15 Oral Sessions (Friday July 2) 27 Oral 13-42 28 Oral Sessions (Saturday July 3) 57 Oral 43-66 58 Oral Sessions (Sunday July 4) 82 Oral 67-87 83 Workshops 104 Workshops 1-17 105 Poster Sessions 122 Poster 1-40 123 All abstracts are published exactly as their respective authors wrote them. © IAHAIO and respective authors. 3 Plenary Sessions Abstract from Plenary speakers 4 Plenary session 1 Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard to Think Straight about Animals Harold Herzog Professor, Western Carolina University Our attitudes toward non-human animals are often morally incoherent. How can most Americans claim WKH\VXSSRUWWKHDLPVRIWKHDQLPDOULJKWVPRYHPHQW\HWRIDGXOWVLQWKH8QLWHV6WDWHVHDWÁHVK":K\ GRZHORYHFDWVDQGKDWHUDWV":K\DUHGRJVWUHDWHGDVIDPLO\PHPEHUVLQVRPHFRXQWULHVDQGHDWHQIRU GLQQHULQRWKHUV",QWKLVSUHVHQWDWLRQ,ZLOOXVHUHFHQWÀQGLQJVIURPDQWKURSRORJ\SV\FKRORJ\DQGEUDLQ science to examine why human interactions with other species are so fraught with inconsistency. 2XUWKLQNLQJDERXWQRQKXPDQDQLPDOVUHÁHFWVDFRPSOH[PL[RIJHQHWLFFXOWXUDODQGFRJQLWLYHIDFWRUV These include biophilia and biophobia, learning, language, and the tendency for human decision-making to rely on quick and dirty rules of thumb. I will argue that the social intuitionist model of moral judgment (Haidt, 2001) helps explain why our relationships with other species are so ethically messy. This theory holds WKDWPRUDOGHFLVLRQVLQYROYHWZRGLVWLQFWDQGRIWHQFRQÁLFWLQJSURFHVVHV7KHÀUVWLVUDSLGXQFRQVFLRXVDQG intuitive, while the second is slow, conscious and logical. According to this model, human ethical judgments, including our judgments about the use of animals, rely largely on moral emotions such as empathy, compassion, and disgust; logic serves largely to provide post-hoc rationalizations for our instantaneous gut-level moral decisions. Finally, I will discuss the limitations of relying on either pure reason or moral emotions in matters of animal ethics. Reference: Haidt, J. (2001). The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment. Psychological Review. 108, 814-834 5 Plenary session 2 Attitudes toward animals and animal welfare – a cross- cultural (international) comparison Dennis C. Turner ScD (Doctor of Science), PD (Private Faculty member, University of Zurich, Switzerland), Invited Professor (ERCAZ, Azabu University, Japan). President of IAHAIO since 1995. Comparative studies of human attitudes toward companion, and other animals in different cultures are rare, of behavior towards them, even rarer. Our western-based animal protection movement is being exported to other cultures – often by occidental expatriates – without fully understanding the historical, cultural/religious, and economic roots of attitudes and behavior toward animals in those cultures. Furthermore, it assumes that those attitudes and that behavior can be changed. If one assumes that animal protection is necessary (which the speaker does), then that cause might be better served by using “local” arguments to reach “our” goals of reducing animal suffering and eliminating animal cruelty. The speaker has attempted to gain some understanding of adult attitudes in urban areas of 12* countries (data from 10 currently analyzed) which also represent different religious traditions, and to assess whether those attitudes change over time when persons from one country reside in one of the other countries (as expatriates). He has also observed behavior during chance encounters between people and animals on the street in three of those countries. )URPWKLV¶SURJUHVVUHSRUW·LWZLOOEHFRPHFOHDUKHKDV ZHKDYH" RQO\EHJXQWRXQGHUVWDQGWKH differences and similarities between the peoples of this planet with regard to animals. But it is a start to what he considers to be a worthwhile endeavor. *Brazil, China, Great Britain, Germany, France, India, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Singapore, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates 6 Plenary session 3 Role of oxytocin in human animal interaction Kerstin Uvnäs-Moberg Medical doctor and Professor of Physiology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Oxytocin is a nine amino acid long polypeptide and the chemical structure is the same in all mammals. It is produced in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei of the hypothalamus and released into the circulation by neurons that project to the posterior pituitary and also from neurons that project to several important UHJXODWRU\DUHDVLQWKHEUDLQZKHUHLWPD\DFWE\LQÁXHQFLQJWKHDFWLYLW\RIPRUHFODVVLFDOVLJQDOOLQJ systems e.g. serotonergic, dopaminergic, opioidergic, cholinergic and noradrenergic transmission. In addition to stimulating uterine contractions and milk ejection via the circulation, oxytocin exerts a multitude of effects via release of oxytocin in the brain. The central effects of oxytocin fall into several categories, the most important ones from the perspective of human animal interaction (HAI) being stimulation of social interaction, reduction of stress and other health promoting effects. Oxytocin stimulates social interaction by reducing anxiety and increasing trust in others and by stimulating prosocial interactive behaviours of several kinds. Bonding between individuals may be stimulated. At the same time the capacity to interpret social cues via all senses is increased. Oxytocin induces wellbeing and the level of pain and LQÁDPPDWLRQLVGHFUHDVHG2[\WRFLQGHFUHDVHVWKHDFWLYLW\LQWKH+3$D[LVDQGLQWKHV\PSDWKHWLFQHUYRXV system e.g. leading to decreased cortisol levels and blood pressure. In addition oxytocin optimizes digestion and stimulates anabolic metabolism and restorative mechanisms. During mother infant interaction, oxytocin is released by the suckling stimulus during breastfeeding. In addition touch, stroking, light pressure and warmth activate sensory nerves from the skin and stimulate release of oxytocin in particular into the brain in both mothers (fathers) and infants and thereby these stimuli contribute to stimulation of social interaction, anti stress effects and stimulation of growth. Also visual, auditory and olfactory stimuli contribute to the release of oxytocin. Also other types of warm relationships involve oxytocin. Oxytocin is also released during certain types of HAI. A beloved animal to which somebody is bonded to will serve as releaser of oxytocin, in particular when the animals are being touched and stroked. Some dogs seem to have a more general ability to release oxytocin in humans. The release of oxytocin induced during HAI may explain why e.g. dogs in some studies have been shown to stimulate social interaction and social competence, to reduce anxiety and increase trust in others, to improve mood and also to reduce cortisol levels and improve cardiovascular function e.g. by decreasing blood pressure. Such effects may in part explain the health promoting effects of having a dog or other animals. Interestingly oxytocin levels also rise in dogs in response to contact with humans suggesting that they may DOVRSURÀWIURP+$,DQGDWWDFKDQGERQGWRKXPDQV $OWRJHWKHUWKHVHGDWDVXJJHVWWKDW+$,LVLPSRUWDQWIRUKXPDQKHDOWKYLDDQLQÁXHQFHRIQHXURHQGRFULQH mechanisms. It is therefore of importance to continue to conduct controlled clinical studies to more clearly demonstrate under which conditions HAI is health promoting. In this way therapeutic interventions based on HAI may be created, which may to some extent decrease the need for drugs or simply create a more positive rewarding and health promoting environment. 7 Plenary session 4 Animal Assisted Activity as a Social Experience: An Exploratory Study of Anti-violence Programs for Adolescents Arnold Arluke, Ph.D Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Northeastern University, USA There is growing interest in the use of animal assisted activity (AAA) to reduce future aggression and anti-social behavior in “at-risk” children and adolescents. Despite the rapid growth of such programs in the 86WKH\KDYHJDUQHUHGVXUSULVLQJO\OLWWOHUHVHDUFKDWWHQWLRQ:KHQVWXGLHGUHVHDUFKHUVKDYHWULHGWR DVVHVV$$$·VHIÀFDF\WRKHOSWKLVHPRWLRQDOO\WURXEOHGSRSXODWLRQSURGXFLQJHQFRXUDJLQJUHVXOWV unfortunately often based on poor research designs. Despite the importance of assessing whether AAA works, it is also important to gather baseline descriptions of the social processes underlying individual programs. Only then can future researchers verify and weigh which, if any, program features or processes, DORQHRULQFRPELQDWLRQPDNHIRUJUHDWHUSURJUDPHIÀFDF\ZLWKSDUWLFXODUWDUJHWJURXSV(VWDEOLVKLQJWKLV baseline calls for a focus on participants’ broad social experience in these programs, including, but going beyond, their contacts with program animals and whatever formal curriculum and structured plans they en- counter. The nature of this experience and the belief that it transforms participants in socially desirable ways stems from each program’s culture, or what staff members believe is the right way for participants to regard and act toward animals, peers, and adults when in the programs. Since it is part of program culture, this staff perspective is not recorded but understood and enacted by those present, and passed on to new staff members through