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While pets may be protective for some people at risk of suicide, they may also become a risk factor or even become co-victims when humans end their own lives. It is important to protect against simplistic approaches to human–animal relationships, especially where simplification may endanger human and/or animal lives. Using publicly accessible online media articles between 2010 and 2020, this research sought to progress our understanding of suicidal acts involving pet animals. Sixty-one articles from six countries were identified; a mixed-methods qualitative descriptive (QD) approach to analysis was undertaken composed of descriptive statistical mapping followed by thematic content analysis. Almost 90% of the articles reported the deaths of multiple humans and 23% reported the deaths of multiple animals. A total of 116 animals were identified: mainly dogs, but also 8 cats, 2 rabbits, and 2 non-specified pets. Most animals died, with only nine surviving. Five key categories of scenarios were identified: extended suicides, mercy killings, suicide pacts, family annihilators, and unique. A further level of analysis was undertaken focused on the family annihilator reports (44/61 articles) using a published homicide-suicide typology. Key points to emerge from this analysis include the possibly higher vulnerability of dogs compared with other species. The terms “extended suicide” and “peticide” are discussed with the recommendation that the killing of pet animals be linguistically aligned with that of other killings. A focus on human–animal relationships reveals commonly unexplored intersections across criminology, mental health, and domestic violence and suggests the potential for collaboration across these fields driven by multi-species awareness. This research adds to arguments for data on animal presence in scenarios of human violence to be collected so that responses to protect vulnerable animals, and humans, can be developed. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

(2018). The Animals Among Us: How Pets Make Us Human. Anthrozoos: Vol. 31, No. 5, pp. 649-651.

There is increasing interest among social and behavioral scientists in brief measures of attitudes and personality traits. Based on factor analysis and using an existing data set (n = 400 adults), we constructed a 5- and a 10-item version of the widely used animal attitude Scale (AAS). Both versions were highly correlated with the original 20-item AAS (rs > 0.95, p < 0.001), and both versions demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity. The AAS-5 and the AAS-10 have excellent psychometric properties and offer alternatives for researchers who need convenient and short measures of attitudes related to animal welfare.

Individual and litter differences in the number of attacks directed by Mexican garter snakes (Thamnophis melanogaster) at a threatening stimulus were studied over the first year of life. Newborn snakes born to wildcaught females from the same population were tested the day after they were born and at 7, 16, 31, and 54 weeks of age on reactivity to a potent nonmoving and moving stimulus (a human finger). There were significant individual and interlitter differences in number of strikes directed at both stimuli but no significant effect of sex. Intercorrelations among the strike scores of individuals across test days averaged .54 for the nonmoving stimulus presentations and .63 for trials with the moving stimulus. Strike scores to the moving and nonmoving stimuli were significantly correlated at each age, however, attack responses to the moving stimulus declined over the year while those to the nonmoving stimulus remained constant. Measures of concordance showed that both individual strike scores and litter means were highly consistent, whereas consistency within litters was reduced. The results indicate that litter and individual differences among newborn snakes in the tendency to engage in antipredator behavior (“defensive temperament”) remain relatively stable from the first day after birth throughout the first year of life.

I review the direction and magnitude (effect sizes) of gender differences that have been reported in several areas of human–animal interactions. These include: attitudes toward the treatment of animals, attachment to pets, involvement in animal protectionism, animal hoarding, hunting, animal abuse, and bestiality. Women, on average, show higher levels of positive behaviors and attitudes toward animals (e.g., attitudes towards their use, involvement in animal protection), whereas men typically have higher levels of negative attitudes and behaviors (e.g., hunting, animal abuse, less favorable attitudes toward animal protection). The effect sizes of gender differences range from small (e.g., attachment), to medium size (e.g., attitudes toward animal use) to large (e.g., animal rights activism, animal abuse by adults.) In most areas, there is considerable overlap between men and women, with much greater within-sex than between-sex variation. Research on the roles of gender in human–animal relationship...

We evaluated the reliability of peer review ratings of 218 proposals that were submitted for presentation at the 2004 meeting of the International Association of Human–Animal Interaction Organizations (IAHAIO). Each proposal was evaluated on four dimensions by different sets of three raters who were blind to the identity of the authors. Single measure intraclass correlations between the evaluations of raters indicated that the reliabilities of judgments were poor for abstracts submitted as research presentations and as descriptions of applied human–animal programs, and fair for abstracts submitted as critical reviews. Reliability of the selection system was considerably improved by averaging the scores of the three raters and using the combined scores to make accept/reject decisions. We suggest modifications to the review process that may enhance the reliability of the selection process for proposals submitted for meetings and for journal submissions in anthrozoology.

(1997). Pets and Paradoxes: Review of In the Company of Animals (second edition) James Serpell. Anthrozoos: Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 236-240.

This paper characterizes the portrayal of animals and human-animal relations in one genre of American popular culture—the “supermarket” tabloid press. A total of 789 animal-related stories and photographs in 82 issues of four tabloid magazines were analyzed according to theme. The items fell into nine categories in which animals were portrayed as objects of affection, saviors, threats, victims, things to be used, sex objects, imaginary and mythological beings, surrogate humans, and objects of wonder. It is argued that these themes represent archetypes reflecting the roles that animals have had in human cultural and psychological life since the historical origins of our species.

To examine the relationship among gender, sex role orientation, and attitudes toward the treatment of animals, 144 male and 222 female college students were administered the Bem Sex Role Inventory, a Likert-scale questionnaire designed to assess attitudes toward animal welfare issues, and a measure of perceived comfort touching animals of a variety of species. There were significant gender differences on all of the animal-related measures with the exception of self-reported comfort touching positively perceived animals. Gender and the expressive (feminine) dimension of sex role orientation accounted for a significant proportion of the variation in attitudes toward animal welfare issues and comfort with other species. Correlations between the masculine and feminine dimensions of sex role orientation were related in opposite directions on all animal attitude measures.

A simple model of random copying among individuals, similar to the population genetic model of random drift, can predict the variability in the popularity of cultural variants. Here, we show that random drift also explains a biologically relevant cultural phenomenon--changes in the distributions of popularity of dog breeds in the United States in each of the past 50 years. There are, however, interesting deviations from the model that involve large changes in the popularity of certain breeds. By identifying meaningful departures from our null model, we show how it can serve as a foundation for studying culture change quantitatively, using the tools of population genetics.

In the News of the Week article “Researchers fight plan to regulate mice, birds” (6 Oct., p. [23][1]), David Malakoff portrays animal researchers as being “furious” with a decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to add mice, rats, and birds to the list of animals protected under the

(1997). Human Clothing and Dog Behavior: An Unproven Hypothesis. Anthrozoos: Vol. 10, No. 2-3, pp. 82-83.

Few subjects covered in psychology courses arouse as much intense feeling as the issue of homosexuality. Students in three different undergraduate courses were asked to submit their questions about homosexuality prior to a panel discussion presented by representatives of a local gay rights organization. A total of 280 questions were collected. They fell into 13 categories, shedding light on the primary questions and concerns students have about this important issue.

In order to assess the degree to which concepts taken from sociobiology have been incorporated into the discipline of psychology, the coverage given to this topic in 37 introductory psychology textbooks was examined. The results indicated that most of the books provided some discussion of sociobiology, but it was typically superficial and there were often significant errors of interpretation of the theory. If coverage of sociobiology in introductory textbooks is an indicator of how the concept is viewed within psychology, it appears that most psychologists regard the theory rather lightly.

Interviews were conducted with 24 graduating veterinary students to examine (a) changes in their attitudes toward animals; (b) the types of experiences and procedures that they found personally distressing; (c) their perceptions of the most important ethical issues that they will face in private practice; and (d) their responses to euthanizing animals. Students' responses differed considerably. For example, about half of the students claimed that they were not affected by euthanasia, but another 25% still were struggling with this aspect of their professional role. Rationalization was a common mechanism by which the students attempted to deal with stressful experiences. It is argued that the moral dilemmas faced by veterinary students mirror the ethical ambiguities inherent in human-animal relationships.

It would be difficult to overestimate the significance of animals in the social and psychological life of our species. Images of animals are everywhere: in our language, religions, dreams, television programs, and folklore. The feelings that we exhibit toward our fellow creatures are intense, complex, and paradoxical. Responses to animals range from the disgust we feel when confronted with a bloated tick to the reverence for animals as deities in so-called primitive cultures; from the love of a child for a pet bunny to the paralyzing fear of phobic experiences when confronted by a harmless spider.In recent years there has been increasing interest in human-animal relationships by investigators from a variety of disciplines. We will not attempt a synthesis of the growing literature on attitudes toward animals, but will follow a different course. For the past decade we have been exploring the diversity and origins of human-animal relationships, and our research has taken us into some rather odd place...

Anthrozoos II:2 carried on pages 98 through 117 an article based on ethnographic research conducted in animal-research laboratories. The paper argued that sacrifice is an ambivalent concept in the culture of animal experimentation, requiring both objectification of and identification with the laboratory animal. The author argued that, because of this ambivalence, laboratory animals are not accorded a single, uniform, and unchanging status but are seen simultaneously as objects and pets. The animals are objectified by incorporation into the protocol, by isolation, by transformation into commodities, and by situational definition. At the same time, laboratory workers develop relationships with the animals that resemble those between owners and pets. These relationships can be divided into four categories: enshrined pets, epitomized by pictures, cartoons, and objects of animals in the laboratory; liberated pets, epitomized by animals removed from the laboratory before experimentation; saved pets, epitomized ...

Despite their importance, techniques of naturalistic observation are rarely taught in undergraduate research methods courses. This article describes exercises designed to give students experience in using methods of naturalistic observation to quantify behavior. Students construct a coding system (ethogram) of the behaviors observed in a small mouse colony. This behavioral catalog is then used to gather data by two techniques: instantaneous and focal animal sampling. The data can be used to calculate interrater reliability and then subjected to sequence analysis. The application of naturalistic observation to the quantification of human behavior is considered.