Anthrozoological Resources

In recent years, the academic world has increasingly turned its attention to exploring the relationship between humans and other animals.`Anthrozoology' is the term currently used to describe the scientific study of this fascinating relationship. In reality, there is little homogeneity in anthrozoological research, certainly as far as disciplinary approach, methodology and theory is concerned. The academic backgrounds of anthrozoological researchers can be extremely varied. There are, for example, social scientists, psychologists, zoologists, ethologists, historians, philosophers, veterinarians and even physicians studying the human-animal relationship.

The vast majority of anthrozoological studies, however, concentrate upon our relationship with pet animals. This is hardly surprising given that many research projects on human-animal relations are sponsored by the pet-food giant Waltham. Such research consequently tends to evaluate and promote the benefits of pet ownership, rather than confronting more controversial or distasteful aspects of human-animal relations. It is a great shame that studies of the relationship between pets and people have such a positive bias, a more critical approach to this topic would not go amiss.

To the other extreme, topics such as factory farming, vivisection, zoos, pet-abandonment, etc. have generally been hijacked by animal rights activists, ethicists and moral philosophers. Their treatment of the human-animal relationship is often steered by emotion, moral outrage and idealism. Again, the discussion of such issues should be treated more pragmatically in their cultural and historical context.

Here is a list of useful resources - both on and off-line - that I have compiled for researchers interested in human-animal relations. It encompasses a broad spectrum of resources, ranging from academic journals to animal rights sites on the web. Whatever your anthrozoological interest, there should be something for you.