Chapter 1
anthrozoology
The most interesting part of this chapter to me was the idea that having an animal in someone's life can alleviate human suffering. Animals can help cope with stress and become a source of comfort. It also aids with certain diseases, for example Autism or Down Syndrome. The example that was given in the book was Dolphin Therapy. At first when I read this I was a little surprised because I thought "Wouldn't it be difficult for kids to interact with a Dolphin?" and "Where would they get a Dolphin?!?" The author also talks about if we can tell certain characteristics about people based on the kinds of animals they like better. He mentions Dog People and Cat People and how they are different. Psychotherapist sent a personality test and the results were that Dog people are more extroverted, agreeable, and conscientious. Cat people are more neurotic and are more open to new experiences. This information was very interesting to me because I would have never thought to compare the data and realize the differences.
The author also talks about how children are affected in their future. The question was "Do Children who Abuse Animals Become Violent Adults?" Children should never be able to abuse an animal and get away with it. It was said that people who abuse animals become violent human-directed adults. Though, I was just as surprised as the researcher when it was found that people, who admitted to abusing animals as children, did not turn out to become violent adults. Overall the main point of this chapter was to show the broad scope of Anthrozoology and the many different issues that this field researches.
The author also talks about how children are affected in their future. The question was "Do Children who Abuse Animals Become Violent Adults?" Children should never be able to abuse an animal and get away with it. It was said that people who abuse animals become violent human-directed adults. Though, I was just as surprised as the researcher when it was found that people, who admitted to abusing animals as children, did not turn out to become violent adults. Overall the main point of this chapter was to show the broad scope of Anthrozoology and the many different issues that this field researches.
Chapter 2
The Importance of being cute
This chapter starts off with an attention catching scenario. Judy Barrett asked if it was ethical to destroy the sparrow’s eggs because she preferred the blue birds. "In ethics, cuteness does not count." Though, most of the world does not focus on ethics. When choosing on which animal to donate to, cuteness has an enormous impact in donator’s decision. Something I thought was very interesting was that the larger the size of an animal's eye, the more likely that a person would favor that animal over another. For example, equally endangered, the Panda attracts much more attention for donators than the salamander. Biologist E. O. Wilson hypothesized the reason for this is based on human instinct. He called this Biophilia in which human's have a natural attraction to infants, puppies, ducklings, etc. My favorite example so far; the character Mickey mouse had numerous revisions since his start. Now his head and eyes are much larger. Cuteness applies to attract an audience by appealing to their senses. The opposite of Biophilia is being Biophobic. This is the natural sense to be fearful toward some creatures such as snakes. Scientist have been arguing for hundreds of years where the fear of snakes comes from. I think it is because of the media spreading a lot of violent examples of snakes. Children learn of this fear very early in life and learn to be fearful of snakes very early (Symbolic Interactionalism). It is much more likely to be killed by a dog. Also an interesting topic discussed is how we associate words with animal names, with different meanings. For example "Foxy Lady" or the demeaning term "You Bitch." Also we use different words instead of the actual animal's name when it comes to food to, in a way, block out the reality of our diet. We say a pound of beef, not a pound of cow. The language we used to talk about animals is closely tied to how we feel about them. The question asking about if the family should eat their family dog or not was odd, but interesting. I would also say it is morally wrong, but it is a little hard to explain your beliefs. I would just say "....because its wrong!"
The different scenarios in this chapter really made me think about what I would do. Most people feel wrong to push someone to their deaths in order to save 5, but are willing to do the same with chimpanzees. The reason we are so quick to label our answers to these questions are a result of framing. The last topics this chapter talks about the theory of mind. If one person knows how to think like a deer, he will most likely come home with the most game. We will never know what it feels like to be a certain animal, but scientist use anthropomorphism to attempt to learn some insight to animal thinking.
The different scenarios in this chapter really made me think about what I would do. Most people feel wrong to push someone to their deaths in order to save 5, but are willing to do the same with chimpanzees. The reason we are so quick to label our answers to these questions are a result of framing. The last topics this chapter talks about the theory of mind. If one person knows how to think like a deer, he will most likely come home with the most game. We will never know what it feels like to be a certain animal, but scientist use anthropomorphism to attempt to learn some insight to animal thinking.
Chapter 3
Pet-o-philia
I found the experiment when Gwendu, having a pet accompany him, asked out women and it increased likeliness for him to get their numbers by 20%. Though, from an evolutionary point of view pets are a problem. Humans waste a lot of time and money caring for pets. Later this became known that pets are a sign of tranquility in people's homes. Pets have been apart of people's lives so long they are now considered full fledged family members. I think the transition between what some animals represent is amazing. Before people just never really cared for animals so much and now they are apart of the family. Though, this is not true in all countries. American's spend a total of over 42$ billion dollars on pets. This amount is surprising to me. Also I think it is really weird how many people start dressing up their animals like humans with dresses. The book talks about a dress being sold for $3000. This price is way to high. We don't spend nearly that much on ourselves. I don't know why this is turning out to be a craze for pet owners! I think animals look ridiculous in clothing. After reading some more, I began to think about how much pets really affect humans. It doesn't seem as high as I would think before. 15% of American's admitted that pets don't really affect them so much. The American Pet Products Manufacturing Association thinks completely different. They say it helps with stress, prevent's heart disease, etc. But I think some of the things they claim is all bias and in a way, fake. They're in the money making business. They'll say whatever to help their sales, right? Pets encourage for people to socialize and help you become happier, but not the exaggerated happy the pet industry talks about. I also believe that pets can be a health hazard, but from the example from the book where she fell down the stairs, that was her fault. It could of been something else there instead that she tripped over, and it probably was her fault for not looking where she was going, but she blames her pet. For kids I do believe that they can help teach kindness and responsibility, but to an extent. They don't magically turn kids into perfect citizens.
Chapter 4
Friends, FOes, And Fashion Statements
Taking care of a wolf dog can be a big risk. They can be extremely difficult to control, cost you thousands to keep, and are very violent. In the book, the wolf dog cost over $10,000 to fix a wrecked condo. They are especially hard to tame. Wolf dogs have been known to kill and are illegal in some states. They are considered wild life and need special permits to be able to own one. What I also found interesting is how important the role of a dog has been trained to do. The example the book gave was how they used dogs to find big lizards and iguanas in the jungle. Though, the way the kill iguanas are ruthless. They stab a needle through their brain and spinal cord. The next section I found interesting was "Can Dogs Read Our Minds?" Dogs may have a smaller brain than wolves far from being similar to humans than chimps, but they can understand human signals and locate food. Neither chimps nor wolves can do this. In the experiment where they hide food under bowls, dogs were right 85% of the time, and wolves and chimps were hopeless. The research of canine minds shows how dogs are becoming very intelligent. There is this one dog that knows and understands over 300 words. The next section I looked at was called "Are We Running Out Of Good Dogs? I was surprised and glad to see how the amount of dogs in shelters has significantly gone down. Decreasing at a mount of 19 million was shocking. This was most likely one of the most successful campaign in history for animals. There is a $300 million foundation behind this that helped with this called Maddie's Fund. Also something interesting was a person named Jill who saved over 2000 dogs from being put to death. She tests dogs who are capable of becoming great pets.
Chapter 5
"Prom Queen Kills First Deer on 16th Birthday
Men and Woman interact completely different with animals. I was surprised to hear that a high school prom queen, who seems would be all preppy and cliché, shot a deer on her birthday. She is one of the few gender benders that the book talks about. Those who don't exactly follow the norms of their gender in regards to animals. Meanwhile another gender bender named Anthony, killed a female zebra and mourned over it. If I killed an animal of that size, I think I would be depressed as well, but not as much as Anthony. The next story about Bill and Blue I found touching. Blue (dog) was very close to Bill, but died of cancer. They were together at the end, and had blue cremated. The theory behind gender roles is that some men can actually be more sympathetic than women, even though a larger majority of animal activist are women. When is comes to pet love, overall women are a little more attached to their pets. Women also have a higher percentage to how they interact with their pets with their chores. Women are the ones who usually feed the family dog and clean the cat's litter box. Men and women actually generally play with dogs the same as well. I would expect men to become rougher. There is little evidence otherwise. What was also interesting is when they opened research beyond the United States to ask the question, should animals be tested for an aim to help human affiliations? More women than men disagreed. Though some of the women who were supportive of it, were more supportive than some of then men. Honestly, I think it depends on the person. Men and women are fairly similar on the issue. Though, Women are known to take more action. Many women take part in the Animal Rights Movement.
The most surprising thing I've read so far, the animal cruelty story. An extremely violent woman, angry at her husband swung at him and when he went to call the police, she stabbed his dog 20 times and killed the dog. What I don't understand is why she is only in jail for 6 months. I think it should be 6 years! She killed an animal. If it were a human, she'd be sentenced for life.
The most surprising thing I've read so far, the animal cruelty story. An extremely violent woman, angry at her husband swung at him and when he went to call the police, she stabbed his dog 20 times and killed the dog. What I don't understand is why she is only in jail for 6 months. I think it should be 6 years! She killed an animal. If it were a human, she'd be sentenced for life.