Search

The human–animal bond (HAB) is a powerful emotional attachment which often elevates pets to the status of a family member. Because companion animals typically live much shorter lives than humans, grief and loss is a problem that is frequently encountered. Disenfranchised grief over the loss of a companion animal is an area that is often overlooked by mental health professionals. Sife has developed a model for the stages of grief and loss specific to companion animals. Questions about pets should be a part of every initial assessment done on a client. Effective interventions include understanding the significance of the HAB and grief and loss; bibliotherapy; psychoeducation; the importance of rituals; and the use of pet loss support groups.

A survey of animal welfare agencies and corrections departments across Australia was conducted to compile a nationwide profile of prison dog programs, wherein inmates train dogs while learning skills to assist their rehabilitation. Most programs operating in 23 prisons in six Australian states were a community service design administered by animal welfare organizations. Inmates benefit through opportunities to train the dogs, give back to society, gain a sense of responsibility, improve self-confidence and social skills, and acquire vocational qualifications to improve job opportunities postrelease. Barriers identified included insufficient funding, limited training opportunities for the dogs, and some staff resistance.

Hospital-based protocols to support pet care needs for hospitalized patients may have potential to benefit patient health and wellbeing, but must be informed by experiences of hospitalized pet owners. The aim of this study was to determine the scope and need for pet care services among hospitalized patients. A panel of prior inpatients and their family members at a tertiary care center were surveyed about preferences, experiences, and need for assistance with pet care during hospitalization. Respondents (n = 113) expressed interest in a low/no-cost pet-boarding or foster program for adult patients struggling to find pet care assistance. The majority of respondents (n = 71; 63%) reported challenges securing pet care during a prior hospitalization, and/or knew someone who encountered similar challenges. Respondents also indicated that these challenges had a negative impact on health, recovery, or their own decision to receive medical care. Pet care challenges during hospitalization are likely common and have the potential to hamper medical decision-making and health outcomes of inpatients.

It is a worldwide trend that more households are having pets or companion animals. Hence, there has been an increasing number of animal lovers experience companion animal loss bereavement. This form of bereavement has not been explored in Chinese societies. We conducted a qualitative study using in-depth interviews with 31 animal lovers and recruited through convenience and snowball sampling in Hong Kong. Companion animal loss bereavement appears to share similar features to other forms of bereavement but also has its unique features. The intensity of grief seemed to be affected by factors like the strength of the human–animal bond, lack of empathy from closed ones, being married without children, and euthanasia decision. Although the bereavement was distressful for many of our participants, many of them gradually achieved personal growth from their loss experience. We have identified seven common themes from the interview data and through self-reliance, social-supported, or professional-supported coping behaviors, people bereaved by animal loss can achieve growth from their experience. This study shows that postbereavement growth is possible from pet loss bereavement when appropriate coping strategies are adopted by the bereaved but some professional help may be needed.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by SAGE Publications in Sexualities, available online: http:// journals.sagepub.com/doi/ full/10.1177/1363460716681476 This manuscript version is made available under the CCBY- NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited., The link between domestic violence and animal abuse has now been well established, indicating that where there is one form of abuse, there is often the other. Research on this link, however, has almost exclusively focused on heterosexual cisgender people’s relationships. Lacking, then, is an exploration of the possibly unique links between domestic violence and animal abuse in the context of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people’s relationships. In this article we adopt a feminist intersectional approach informed by Critical Animal Studies to advocate for a non-pathologising approach to understanding LGBT people’s relationships with regard to the link between domestic violence and animal abuse.

We evaluated behavioural changes in domestic cats during short-term hospitalisation using a novel cat demeanour scoring system. Thirty-five healthy, client-owned cats admitted for neutering were enrolled. Cats were housed in a standardised cat ward for a short-term hospitalisation period (3–5 days) and demeanour scores were recorded once daily. The scoring system classified cats into one of five behavioural groupings: friendly and confident, friendly and shy, withdrawn and protective, withdrawn and aggressive, and overtly aggressive. Total demeanour score decreased over time ( P

Guidelines rationale: A cat’s level of comfort with its environment is intrinsically linked to its physical health, emotional wellbeing and behavior. Having a basic understanding of the cat’s species-specific environmental needs and how cats interact with their environment will provide a foundation for addressing these fundamental requirements. Environmental needs: Addressing environmental needs is essential (not optional) for optimum wellbeing of the cat. Environmental needs include those relating not only to the cat’s physical surroundings (indoors or outdoors; in the home environment or at the veterinary practice) but also those affecting social interaction, including responses to human contact. Five ‘pillars’ framework: The authorship panel has organized the Guidelines around five primary concepts (‘pillars’) that provide the framework for a healthy feline environment. Understanding these principles and the unique environmental needs of the cat will help veterinarians, cat owners and care-givers to reduce stress, the incidence of stress-related disorders, and unwanted behavior in their feline patients and pets. The recommendations in the Guidelines apply to all pet cats, regardless of lifestyle.

Archaeological and molecular data suggest that horses were domesticated comparatively recently, the genetic evidence indicating that this was from several maternal haplotypes but only a single paternal one. However, although central to our understanding of how humans and environmental conditions shaped animals during domestication, the phenotypic changes associated with this idiosyncratic domestication process remain unclear. Using geometric morphometrics on a sample of horse teeth including Pleistocene wild horses, modern Icelandic and Thoroughbred domestic horses, Przewalski’s wild horses of recent age and domestic horses of different ages through the Holocene, we show that, despite variations in size likely related to allometry (changes to bone size in proportion to body size), natural and artificial selective pressures and geographic and temporal heterogeneity, the shape of horse teeth has changed surprisingly little over thousands of years across Eurasia: the shapes of the premolars of prehistoric and historic domestic horses largely resemble those of Pleistocene and recent wild horses. However, this changed dramatically after the end of the Iron Age with an explosive increase in the pace and scale of variation in the past two millennia, ultimately resulting in a twofold jump in the magnitude of shape divergence in modern breeds. Our findings indicate that the pace of change during domestication may vary even within the same structure with shape, but not size, suggesting a ‘long-fuse’ model of phenotypic modification, where an initial lengthy period of invariance is followed by an explosive increase in the phenotypic change. These observations support a testable model that is applicable to other traits and species and add a new layer of complexity to the study of interactions between humans and the organisms they domesticated.

Agitation is a widespread and challenging problem among aged care residents with dementia. This article draws on empirical and theoretical literature to propose a model for preventing and treating agitation non-pharmacologically. A literature review finds agreed, coherent definition and measurement of agitation to be absent despite numerous agitation remedies having been suggested, yet sufficient material to support evidence-based care planning. Agitation is revealed as resulting from a resident’s interactions with the environment or their internal state, giving rise to unmet needs that attentive care can treat. Agitation treatments are reviewed to find no single effective remedy and a lack of quality evaluation. A higher-order, problem-solving approach is proposed. The described system consists of sequential diagnosis, decision making and treatment options, commencing with individualized and institutional preventative measures removing environmental triggers, followed by individual remediation, with residents’ unmet needs receiving priority consistent with patient-centred care.

Healthy People 2010 cited walking as a major health indicator; however, adherence is challenging, especially among those with multiple chronic illnesses. Studies suggest that walking one’s own dog may motivate adherence. However, no research has studied whether walking a “loaner” dog may facilitate adherence. Using a pretest—posttest design, the authors studied adherence to and outcomes of a graduated walking program when 26 public housing residents walked certified therapy dogs with a handler. Participants walked 20 minutes, 5 days/week, for 26 or 50 weeks. In all, 13 participants in the 50-week group had a mean adherence rate of 72% and weight loss of 14.4 pounds ( p = .013). Thirteen participants in the 26-week group had a mean adherence rate of 52% and weight loss of 5 pounds (nonsignificant). Participants’ most commonly stated reason for adherence was that the dogs “need us to walk them.” Commitment to a dog that is not one’s own may effectively facilitate physical activity.

The article reviews the early history of FRAME from the perspective of its first "Scientific Administrator". The roles of Mrs Hegarty the founder, and other early contributors to FRAME's development are described. In addition, the article discusses FRAME's strategic approach to the subject and how Mrs Hegarty's background influenced the development of that approach.

In studies that have explored pet ownership in families affected by dementia, reported benefits have ranged from improvements in patient behavior to reduction in caregiver blood pressure. In this exploratory study, the impact of dementia on relationships among pets, caregivers, and care recipients was examined using content analysis of open-ended questions included in a telephone survey. Female spouse caregivers who owned pets were asked how their (and their husband's) relationship with their pets changed since they started caring for their husband. Most caregivers reported that they felt closer and more attached to their pets than previously. However, some caregivers reported that their pets created an additional burden and that they and their spouse had less time to care for the pets since the onset of illness. Findings highlight the need for further research to explore the unique benefits and burdens of owning a pet for families affected by dementia.

To increase their research skills and confidence, students in a nonresearch-focused elective MSW course gathered qualitative data through cross-ethnic interviews for a formal research project. Qualitative findings from a focus group of students were used to examine the perspectives of the students, all but one of whom were women, about (a) changes in their knowledge of and attitudes toward research, (b) the struggles they experienced, and (c) whether such projects should be integrated into other courses. Implications for social work educators who are seeking to empower social work students, especially women, to conduct research are discussed.

Although animals appear to be increasingly incorporated into correctional programming, the field has failed to systematically study the phenomenon. The present research is an initial attempt to capture the extent to which these types of programs are being administered in U.S. prisons through a national survey of state correctional systems. The research regarding the potential therapeutic effects of animals and what we know about prison-based animal programs (PAPs) are reviewed. Among the results: The programs are in most states, are most commonly of a community service design that uses dogs, are more likely to involve male than female participants, and most were established after 2000. Livestock care/prison farms emerge as a unique type of PAP.

In this article, the author discusses the many opportunities for scholars interested in conducting interdisciplinary research on the individual and organizational benefits of companion animals in the workplace. The selected literature in the management, medical, psychosocial, and communication realms provides areas for research connections within our field and between these disciplines. An exploratory model and future research suggestions are developed to provide direction for additional study.

The death of a pet—or, as some prefer to call it, a companion animal—is a frequent subject in death-related literature for children. Pets are important to children for many reasons; for example, they serve as friends, playmates, and sources of unconditional love. In addition, pets help teach children about the responsibilities that are involved in caring for another living creature. Also, because the life cycles of most animals that become pets are much shorter than those of the humans who care for them, pets often teach children important lessons about loss, death, grief, and coping. For all of these reasons, when I began writing about death-related literature for children my attention was soon drawn to books within that general category that told stories about the death of a pet. In this article, my purpose is to describe and examine a selected sample of 20 books for children whose principal subject or story line is concerned with pet loss. Full bibliographical information for each of these books appears in the list of “Children's Literature” at the end of this article.

Cat owners commonly consider their pets to be members of their families, and many factors contribute to a high level of owner attachment to their cats. Suppression of a cat's emotional needs in favour of the emotional requirements of the owner may produce a less satisfactory relationship for the owner, and usually for the cat as well. Owners' failure to comprehend their cat's true demands of life, and their false expectation of their ability to fulfil human psychological demands lies at the heart of many feline behaviour problems.

This article addresses challenges in designing Human-Animal Interaction (HAI) research. A summary of previous reviews of HAI research is presented, followed by a discussion of areas that present particular challenges to research in this field, specifically design issues, control of extraneous variables, sample selection, intervention development, and outcome measurement. Suggestions for addressing these areas also are presented.

The term human-animal bond (HAB) was used prominently in 1979 in Scotland, but the concept had been articulated by Konrad Lorenz and Boris Levinson earlier. International and national conferences in the 1970s and 1980s and their published proceedings brought wide attention to the HAB, as did media coverage of community animal-assisted activity and therapy programs and service dog training programs. Much of the progress in the HAB can be attributed to veterinary leaders, university centers, conferences, and publications. Other professions were slower to see the value of the HAB. The need for a research base for the field was recognized early by the Delta Society and key individuals. The majority of funding for HAB research, programs, and conferences has come from the pet industry. The HAB field is shifting to a focus on the importance of human-animal interactions to human health and well-being.

Interest is growing in establishing animal-facilitated programs in prisons. Although food animals have been maintained by prisons for years, few have looked at the benefits inmates derive from working with animals. Recently, prisons have started dog and horse training programs. Preliminary evidence indicates that inmates benefit, learning life-enhancing skills and lowering the recidivism rates. Shelter dogs and wild horses trained by the prisoners help people with physical and emotional needs. State and federal funds are needed to further study the benefits derived for prisoners, animals, and society.

Human-animal contact can influence psychological and physiological parameters important to health and welfare; nevertheless, there has been relatively little research on the variables that influence or mediate those health consequences. In addition, little attention has been paid on how to create or alter the animal interactions for the betterment of people and their animals. The investigation can be guided by two theoretical perspectives, which make powerful but different and testable predictions: the biophilia hypothesis and social support theory. Along with this theoretically driven research, there is a need for replication of salient research findings to resolve important discrepancies in the literature. Last, animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has to be placed in the context of alternative therapies now available to define its specificity, risks, and overall benefits.

This study examined the influence of animal-assisted therapy, specifically fish aquariums, on nutritional intake in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Sixty-two individuals with AD who lived in specialized units were studied. Baseline nutritional data were obtained followed by a 2-week treatment period when the aquariums were introduced. The treatment data were collected daily for 2 weeks then weekly for 6 weeks. Nutritional intake increased significantly (21.1%; p < .001) when the aquariums were introduced and continued to increase during the 6-week weekly follow-up. Weight increased significantly(1.65 lbs; p < .001) over the 16-week period. In addition, participants required less nutritional supplementation, resulting in health care cost savings.

Pet death, like other losses, requires that the bereaved adjust to the often severe consequences of that loss. Previous research suggests there may be specific owner characteristics and situational variables that can affect how individuals adjust to the loss of their pet (Thomas, 1982). The present study investigated the influence of a number of variables on how one adjusts to companion-animal death including: Cause-of-Death (euthanasia versus natural death); Attachment; Gender; Age; Time-Since-Loss; Type-of-Pet; Replacement-of-Pet; and Household-Make-up. Voluntary participants ( N=103) completed the Grief Experience Inventory (Sanders, Mauger,&Strong, 1985), the Companion Animal Loss Scale (Stallones, Johnson, Garrity,&Marx, 1989), and a General Information Questionnaire. Major findings indicated that: 1) owners whose pets died naturally experienced significantly more total grief, social isolation, and loss of control compared to owners who had their pets euthanized; 2) female owners experienced significantly greater depersonalization, death anxiety, and rumination compared to males; 3) younger owners experienced significantly greater anger/hostility and despair than elderly owners; and 4) owners who lived alone experienced significantly greater somatization than owners who lived with others. Results of the present study suggest reasons why some owners may be “at risk” for excessive grief reactions due to the loss of their companion animal. The importance of providing bereaved owners with a source of mental health counseling is discussed, and directions for future research are suggested.

This article begins with analysis of four of the principal ‘modes of engagement’ which articulate the human/wild animal nexus: encounter; representation; presentation; and quasification. It then goes on to focus upon the zoo as a key site of animal presentation and of mass tourism. The argument is presented that the zoo in late modernity is undergoing crucial changes in its legitimating narratives. In addition, it is suggested that zoos are exhibiting a tendency towards Disneyization, which entails the following interlinked features: theming; dedifferentiation of consumption; merchandising; and emotional labour. We illustrate this tendency through the discussion of a variety of contemporary developments in zoos and wildlife parks.

The domestic dog is able to identify both individual conspecifics, ie other dogs, and individual interspecifics, eg humans, by smell. Whilst humans can recognise individual members of their own species using olfactory information, it is unknown whether they can identify members of any other species in this manner. We examined the ability of humans to identify individual dogs by smell. Twenty-six dog owners were required to smell two blankets, one impregnated with the odour of their own dog, the other impregnated with the odour of an unfamiliar dog. Participants were required to indicate which of the odours smelt the strongest, which smelt the most pleasant, and which of the odours belonged to their own dog. Most of the participants (88.5%) were able to recognise the odour of their own dog. They showed no significant bias, however, in responding which of the odours they thought smelt the strongest or most pleasant. The results indicate that dogs produce odours that are individually distinctive to their owners, and highlight the fact that humans can recognise members of another species using olfactory cues—an ability presumably acquired without conscious effort.

We analyzed dyadic interactions between 12 neutered dogs (6 females and 6 males) and 44 humans (20 women, 14 men, and 10 girls) who were unfamiliar with each other. We also examined the effect of sex differences in dogs and humans as well as age differences in humans on human-dog interactions in a guide-dog turning program. Female dogs more actively regulated their distance from humans than male dogs. Dogs made contact with women more frequently than with men, and men nude contact with dogs more frequently than women. Girls initiated interactions with dogs more frequently than women; girls formed reciprocal interactions with dogs less frequently than women.

In this paper the author explores the process of mourning as experienced by bereaved pet owners. Losing a pet is an agonizing experience. It was expected that the process of mourning for a pet loss would be similar to the process associated with the loss of a human. Data were collected by viewing postings on the alt.support.grief.pet-loss newsgroup. Those who suffered the loss of a pet expressed qualities associated with Parks' (1987) four-phased process of mourning. Two serendipitous findings were the role of guilt and the strong belief in an afterlife for the pet.

Because research literature on human and avian interactions is limited, it seemed important to investigate the benefits and liabilities of pet-bird ownership. It was hypothesized that most pet bird owners would have other pet animals in addition to birds, that one-fifth of owners would have owned pet birds during childhood or adolescence, that they would report their birds provided physical and verbal companionship, and that most would admit to their being some real liabilities in owning birds. 50 men and 50 women bird owners were interviewed. Clearly, bird owners were also animal lovers, and their responses supported all the hypotheses. The primary benefits of bird ownership were friendship, companionship, and verbal interactions. The primary liabilities were messiness and noise. Respondents stated good bird owners needed to be patient, affectionate, and sensitively perceptive. These findings should help in training of both children and adults for careful nurturing of birds and other pets.

Based on the fact that the human-animal bond has existed through recorded history and researchers are now beginning to explore humans' reactions to its loss, this study attempts to answer the following questions: Does human attachment to a pet vary with age/stage of development? Does grief vary by age/stage of development? Does the length and intensity of grief change if the loss was anticipated or sudden? The purpose of this study is to understand attachment and bereavement/loss in children and adolescents as compared to adults. The “Pet Attachment Survey,” the “Grief Experience Inventory,” and “Questions for Each Person in the Study” were the instruments used in this study. The participants included 106 children, 57 adolescents, and 270 adults who had lost their pets within a twelve-month interval. The findings suggest that children and adolescents have similar attachments to their pets. Children grieved more than adults in this study. Anticipated grief partially helped participants to allay the grief response.

This study describes the type and range of hazards found in the homes of elderly persons (n=257) referred to the occupational therapy department of a city teaching hospital. Homes were assessed using an abbreviated version of the Westmead Home Safety Assessment. The most commonly found hazards were in internal traffic ways (48%), the bathroom (40%), and access areas to and from the home (38%). Hazardous mats, pathways, and bathroom and toilet floor surfaces were the most commonly found individual hazards. Mildly cognitively impaired persons were found to have increased exposure to hazards in traffic ways; women were found to have more bed light hazards and people living with others were more likely to have a pet that may pose a risk of the elderly person falling. Otherwise, characteristics of people were generally not found to be associated with increased exposure to any particular type of hazard. We recommend further and more detailed investigation of home hazards, including in the homes of the well elderly.

STIR, Success Through Individual Recreation is examined to determine the benefits of individualized recreational activities geared towards the lower functioning Alzheimer's population. The STIR program has proven to be a successful way of meeting social and recreational needs of all levels of individuals afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.

To help confirm the concept that distances placed between the self and other figures in children's drawings represent emotional distances, 242 pet-owning and 35 nonpet-owning kindergarteners through eighth graders drew pictures of themselves, a pet, and/or a family member. Owners drew pets significantly closer than family-figures although the younger the child, the greater the distance between self and pet. Older children drew themselves holding pets significantly more often, but younger children placed the family-figure between the self and the pet significantly more often. There were no significant gender differences in self-figure/pet-figure distances, but cats, dogs, caged animals, and farm animals were placed significantly closer to self-figures than were fish. Over-all, owners were clearly emotionally closer to pets than to family members, but nonowners were as close emotionally to family members as were owners.

This article focuses on the criteria used by dog owners to define their animals as minded individuals with whom they maintain viable and satisfying social relationships. The discussion is based on field data drawn from a study in a veterinary clinic, interviews with dog owners, and autoethnographic materials compiled by the author as he observed and interacted with his own dogs. Special attention is directed at caretakers' understandings of their dogs' thought processes, emotional experiences, and unique personalities. The significance of investigations of animal-human interaction to enlarging sociological views of mindedness and the construction of social identities is emphasized.

This article reports a case study of dogs' contributions to interaction and the development of relationships among unacquainted persons. The study examines dynamics of inclusion among dog owners at a public park and is based on participant observation of those processes. That examination reveals that dogs expose their human companions in public places to encounters with strangers, facilitate interaction among the previously unacquainted, and help establish trust among the newly acquainted. It also demonstrates that dogs' participation in public life is of some importance to their human participants.

One of the developmental challenges that a college student may have to face is the death of a significant other-friend, spouse, relative, child, parent, or pet. The focus of this study was to examine the potential effects of bereavement on college students based on a synthesis of previously published empirical studies and a review of literature. Coping strategies specific to college students are discussed. Because the presence of suitable interventions may decrease some of the negative consequences of griefand may facilitate the developmentalprocess, institutional and individual interventions are reviewed.

The socio-political aspects of the alternatives concept in research and toxicity testing is discussed, primarily from a US perspective. A history of the alternatives concept is provided, describing some of the events which occurred in Europe and the UK in the 1970s/1980s. British Home Office statistics on animal use, showing its decline from 1976, are included. The recent history of the debate over the alternatives concept in the US is discussed, including Congressional action, NIH attitudes, and the Draize campaign. Current attitudes toward alternatives in the US, and the issues surrounding their adoption and use in toxicity testing and in biomedical research, are presented.

We explored the relationship between psychiatric diagnosis and the presence of stuffed animals at the bedside in a population of adult female psychiatric inpatients. One of the authors made approximately weekly surveys of the wardrooms of adult psychiatric inpatients over twelve months for the presence of displayed stuffed animals. The observer was blind to the diagnosis of 80% of the patients, and the study or its hypothesis was not known to other physicians. The discharge diagnoses of patients displaying stuffed animals were recorded and compared with those of the ward population in general. Among 36 female patients who displayed stuffed animals in their rooms, Borderline Personality Disorder was diagnosed in 22 (61%) of these patients. Of 447 adult female patients admitted to the same unit over the same period, only 17% were noted to be diagnosed Borderline Personality Disorder. Stuffed animals as a bedside clinical clue may suggest evaluation for Borderline Personality Disorder.

Because the literature on factors influencing the average adult's attitudes and attachment to pet animals is extremely limited, this study was designed to investigate whether present pet ownership or nonownership, childhood ownership or nonownership, sex, and family size were significant influences on adults' attitudes and attachment to pets. 900 adults were given either the Wilson Pet Attitude Inventory for Pet Owners or for Nonpet Owners. Statistical analysis of responses indicated that current pet owners were more attached to pets than nonowners, that adults who had owned pets as children or adolescents were more attached than those who never owned or who first owned them as adults, that women were more attached than men, that single subjects were more attached than married subjects, and that childless subjects were more attached than those who were parents.