The Animals Among Us: How Pets Make Us Human

Description

The Animals Among Us: How Pets Make Us Human

by John Bradshaw

ISBN:  9780465064816

Publisher:  Basic Books

Publication Year:  2017

Format:  Hardcover

Pages:  367

From the inside leaf:

“Pet have never been more popular.  Over half of American households share their home with either a cat or a dog, and many contain both.  This is a significant change from only a century ago, when the majority of domestic pets were working animals, keeping rodents at bay, guarding property, and herding sheep.  But now, most pets serve no concrete function.  They cost Americans billions of dollars every year and untold amounts of time, and reciprocate with little besides their devotion.  And yet we cling to animals ever more tightly.  Why?

In The Animals Among Us, anthrozoologist John Bradshaw argues that pet-keeping is nothing less than an intrinsic part of human nature.  Throughout history, empathy for animals has increased our ability to survive.  As our relationship with animals evolved, from the earliest domestication of wild animals thousands of years ago to the ubiquity of modern household pets, this connection grew ever stronger.  Today, we can no more set aside the attachment that many of us feel for animals than we can ignore our sweet tooth.

Drawing on the latest research in biology and psychology, Bradshaw explains how an affinity for animals drove human evolution and how now, without animals around us, we risk losing an essential part of ourselves.”