Animal Bond Research Articles

The Human Animal Bond: Applications for Rehabilitation Professionals

The human-animal bond is a poweiful tool that may be overlooked by rehabilitation professionals in providing services to their clients. While the primary focus of rehabilitation counselors is meeting the vocational goals of the client, secondary factors related to the disability often hinder the ability of consumers to meet those goals. Research has demonstrated that animals can have positive influences on the medical, social, behavioral and psychological well-being of individuals including those with disabilities. Animals can be used as a therapeutic modality or as an adaptive intervention to help facilitate positive rehabilitation outcomes. The use of animals may be a cost effective intervention that can lessen the impact of a disability.

Effect of Postweaning Handling Strategies on Welfare and Productive Traits in Lambs

Postweaning management strategies that include an element of social enrichment may reduce weaning stress and improve welfare and productive performance. We analyzed the effect of postweaning handling strategies on welfare and production traits in lambs. After weaning, 36 lambs were assigned to 3 experimental groups with 12 lambs each (control [C], fattening with gentle human female contact [H], and fattening with 2 adult ewes [E]). The average daily gain (ADG) was estimated. Blood samples were taken, and infrared thermography was used to estimate stress variables. There were significant differences among treatments (in favor of alternative strategies) regarding production and stress variables (cortisol, glucose, and creatine kinase). The results suggest that the lambs handled gently during the fattening were less reactive and better able to modulate their physiological stress. The E group adapted better to acute stress than the C group but was less efficient in modulating chronic stress. Both treatments showed higher slaughter live weights and better ADGs compared with the control. The use of social enrichment at weaning, especially to establish a positive human–nonhuman animal bond, alleviates lamb weaning stress and improves welfare and performance.

Longitudinal Study of Dutch Children’s Attachment to Companion Animals

The goals of the current studies were (1) to develop a new child-companion animal attachment scale; (2) to determine if children are more attached to dogs than to cats; (3) to examine sex and age differences in attachment to companion animals; and (4) to measure stability of children’s attachment to their companion animals over time. Because the Companion Animal Bonding Scale failed to measure Dutch children’s attachment to companion animals, a preliminary 10-question version of a new questionnaire was tested in a pilot study involving 235 children aged 4 to 12 years. The results indicated that the questionnaire is reliable and valid. In a larger 5-year, longitudinal study involving 631 schoolchildren, the final version of the questionnaire was administered 3 times at 2.5-year intervals to children aged 3, 8, and 13 years at the start of the study. The results indicated that children’s attachment to their companion animals is stable.

The biology of the human–animal bond

Our relationship with domestic animals is rooted in evolutionary, psychological, and physiological processes. There are significant health benefits for people associated with their interaction with animals. There are significant health benefits for animals associated with their interaction with people. Animals can be effectively utilized in therapeutic settings that are cost effective and humane.

Building better bonds: Facilitating interdisciplinary knowledge exchange within the study of the human–animal bond

There is an increasing need among policymakers, practitioners, and researchers involved in the study and application of the humannanimal bond to share and produce knowledge with each other to achieve their respective goals. Challenges posed by interdisciplinary and intercultural communication inhibit knowledge exchange and joint knowledge production efforts among these groups. Knowledge management systems, such as HABRI Central, can facilitate interdisciplinary knowledge exchange by...

From the Editors: The human–animal bond and domestication: Through the ages … animals in our lives

As animal scientists, our lives and our livelihoods are intimately connected to animals. We study the physiology, nutrition, genetics, management, behavior and health and disease of livestock; companion, laboratory, and exotic animals; and wildlife. In this issue of Animal Frontiers, “The Human–Animal Bond and Domestication: Through the ages…Animals in our lives,” we explore the bond between humans and animals and the domestication of cattle and dogs from their ancient predecessors to their modern counterparts. The study of the human–animal bond or our psychological and social relationship with animals is a true scientific “animal frontier.” One of the more recent animal frontiers to be studied is the nature of the psychological and social relationship we have with the animals that share our world. In the late 1970s, the term “human–animal bond” was coined by Leo Bustad and Michael McCulloch (Hines, 2003). Drs. Bustad and McCulloch were just developing the Delta Society, a society dedicated to understanding the relationship between animals, people, and the environment; hence, the delta. The term “the human–animal bond” was unashamedly borrowed from the respected association found between parents and their offspring, the so-called “parent–infant bond.” The human–animal bond is now being recognized as a scientific discipline; it is a theoretic construct for the behavioral, psychological, physiological, ecological, social, and ethical consequences of the relationship between people and animals that is different from when either partner occurs independently. The new commitment to animals stems not only from our general sensitivity to the welfare of animals, but also from a newer appreciation of the many roles animals play in our lives. But we must remember that to be a “bond,” the effect on each partner has to be mutually beneficial and significant. The association between humans and their animals is indeed mutually beneficial and significant.

The healing role of assistance dogs: What these partnerships tell us about the human–animal bond

There are more than 22,000 individuals in the United States who are partnered with an assistance dog. Partnership with an assistance dog has been shown to have significant benefits for the human partner. These benefits include increased ability of people to perform activities of daily living; psychological/emotional health, and participation in social, work, and school activities outside the home. The relationship a person has with an assistance dog is mutually interdependent and can be...

Parental potentiation of vocalization as a marker for filial bonds in infant animals.

Maternal and paternal potentiation of vocalization are two parts of a promising model of early life social bonds that has been and can be a useful tool in research. Most mammalian infants vocalize when isolated. Interactions with adult females just before isolation have been found to increase vocalizations in several species. Interactions with littermates and other social stimuli do not. In guinea pigs and pigs, the response is specific to the dam. In rats and octagon degus, an unrelated adult female from the colony is sufficient. The presence of an intact adult male in the test chamber with dam-reared pups evokes behavioral inhibition, a fear response. Previous exposure to the male in the home cage, biparental rearing, dramatically transforms the response of the pup. The pup treats the adult male as it does its dam, including potentiation of vocalization during a subsequent isolation. This article outlines the methods, advantages, and disadvantages of parental potentiation as a research tool, as well as a brief review of the evidence supporting its use as a marker for filial attachment. Future research directions are outlined.

Use of visual and permanent identification for pets by veterinary clinics

It is estimated that more than 5 million stray dogs and cats enter animal shelters in the USA each year, but less than half are ever reunited with their owners. Lost pets with identification microchips are up to 21 times more likely to be reunited than those without. Finders of lost pets are more likely to consult veterinarians than shelters for assistance, and pet owners look first to veterinarians for advice regarding pet health, protection, and welfare. An online survey of 1086 veterinary clinics in the South-Eastern USA was conducted to evaluate how veterinary clinics functioned as a part of the pet identification network. Scanning and microchip implants were offered by 91% of surveyed clinics and 41% used ‘global’ scanners capable of detecting all currently used microchip brands. Clinics more frequently relied on pet owners to register contact information rather than providing this service for clients (52% vs. 43%, respectively). Even though lost dogs are more likely to be reunited with owners than lost cats, microchips and collars were more likely to be recommended for all dogs (85% and 93%, respectively) than for all cats (67% and 61%, respectively). Only half of clinics that recommended identification collars made them available to their clients. Veterinarians can protect animals, pet owners and the human–animal bond by integrating pet identification into preventive health care.

How to run a puppy party: social saviour or social demon?

A previous article ( Hargrave 2013 ) discussed some of the predisposing factors that may make it difficult for a puppy's emotional and behavioural repertoire to develop as their owner may expect, potentially leading to puppies failing to cope in the domestic environment and developing compensating, undesirable behaviours that lead to early difficulties in the human–animal bond. Such puppies and their families require vigilance on the part of the veterinary team to spot them early and to enable the initiation of support. This article develops the theme by suggesting a comprehensive package of support that practices, possibly in cooperation with appropriately qualified trainers, may offer puppies during practice-led puppy classes. Such support packages should help puppies, both with or without extra challenging predispositions, to cope with the physical and social complexity and frustrations of co-existence with humans in a domestic environment. Due to the increasing environmental challenges met by young dogs and the growing sensitivity of the general public to dogs that exhibit behaviours associated with a lack of environmental competency, such preventative behavioural support should be as much a basic of practice welfare policy as preventative puppy vaccinations.

Pheromonatherapy and animal behaviour: providing a place of greater safety

A perception of safety is central to the well-being of all animals, and a lack of safety may make it impossible for an animal to fully engage with the social and physical environment around it. Although the over-riding aim of all owners of companion animals is likely to be the provision of a safe environment for their pet, the reality is that many animals fail to perceive their environment as safe. For such animals, this leads to a lack of capacity for relaxation, an inevitable experience of either frequent or constant stress and elevated arousal levels that initiate behaviours that owners find difficult to cope with; this can lead to problems in the human–animal bond. Pheromones provide animals with specific chemical clues and information regarding the world around them. Through the use of synthetic analogues of pheromones that would normally be associated with a concept of enhanced security, pheromonatherapy may be used to increase the companion animal's capacity to relax in its current location and to be more capable of willingly investigating the wider environment.

The Role of an Animal-Mascot in the Psychological Adjustment of Soldiers Exposed to Combat Stress

For many soldiers confronted with exposure to stressful situations, an animal-mascot bond is considered effective help for dealing with the stress. While most studies carried out on animals’ needs concentrate on the care of civilian individuals, our focus was on determining the reliability of an instrument to measure emotional, rational and psychosocial needs of the military engaged in numerous conflicts around the world, and to analyze its external validation. Methods: In an anonymous cross-sectional retrospective survey, we applied the animal-mascot bond questionnaire (AMBS) associated with Coping Inventory Stressful Scale (CISS), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Check List Scale (PCL-S) assessments to 168 soldiers after their deployment in theatre. Results: Factor analyses of the 23-item construct (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.962) pointed to a 3-factor solution, which revealed 77.03% of variance: 1) Animal-group bond, 2) Individual-animal emotional bond, and 3) Individual-animal rational bond. All these factors were positively correlated with the emotional-centred coping style. Human-animal bonds were greater for soldiers with the provisional diagnosis of PTSD. Limited responsibility was the strongest predictor for animalmascot bonds. Both individual animal bonds were also predicted by the PTSD status and emotional coping. Conclusions: The evaluation of the AMBS revealed that the instrument had good psychometric properties. Soldiers with less responsibility, PTSD and emotional-coping scored the highest on the AMBS suggesting that they expressed the highest needs for a bond with an animalmascot. One may assume that the animal-mascot bonds will trend to a therapeutic coping process for mitigating distress for soldiers.

Effects of Companion Animal Ownership among Canadian Street-involved Youth: A Qualitative Analysis

In Canada, approximately 150,000 youth are homeless on any given night, and many have companion animals. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, this qualitative study explored the issues and effects of companion animal ownership among street-involved youth from the perspective of the youth themselves. “Pet before self” was the substantive theme, with first level sub-themes of “physical” and “emotional” effects. Previously unidentified findings include benefits of having a companion animal, such as creating structure and routine and decreasing use of drugs. Loss of the companion animal was a negative effect. Youth consistently reported making choices to stay with their animal regardless of liabilities for their own health or success. Service providers should understand and support the significant human–animal bond that can exist for these homeless youth.

Effects of preadoption counseling on the prevention of separation anxiety in newly adopted shelter dogs

Separation anxiety is one of the more prevalent and difficult to treat behavior problems in dogs. The associated behaviors can be undesirable to dog owners and damage the human animal bond, leading to relinquishment or return to an animal shelter. Due to the high prevalence of separation related problems in recently adopted shelter dogs, shelter staff hold a critical role in advising and educating owners on how to prevent separation anxiety post-adoption. The aim of this study was to propose a form of that preventive counseling as a means of preventing the development of separation anxiety in recently adopted shelter dogs. The efficacy of preadoption counseling in the education and prevention of separation anxiety problems was tested in a prospective, randomized, parallel-group study. Participants included 133 new owners of dogs 6 months of age and older. At the time of adoption, sixty-six of these owners were randomly selected to receive five minutes of counseling on the prevention of separation anxiety, while the remaining sixty-seven owners served as the controls. A follow-up survey regarding the signs associated with separation anxiety and other potentially related behaviors was conducted one month post adoption. Results showed that 19 owners reported their dogs as having separation anxiety. There was no significant effect of adoption counseling on the prevention of separation anxiety. Owners in both groups were equally as likely to perform most of the recommendations given during counseling. Dogs that were reported to have separation anxiety were significantly more likely than dogs without reported separation anxiety to show nervous or panicked behavior as the owner prepared to leave ( P = 0.0001) and were more likely to be reported as being “needy” ( P = 0.031). Having another dog in the home was not protective against the development of separation anxiety. Owners in the counseling group were more likely than those in the control group to put food inside a toy at the time of leaving the dog home alone ( P = 0.0001), suggesting the counseling recommendations were indeed followed by the owners. Owner compliance supports the idea that counseling is a useful tool for owners. Separation anxiety is a disorder whose course may be difficult to alter in recently adopted shelter dogs using only basic, interventional information. Brief counseling and a toy do not effectively prevent the occurrence of this complex behavioral condition. Further investigation should be done to find more specific, effective prevention tools for owners to use in the home to minimize the development of separation anxiety and shelter should be prepared to provide interventional resources to owners whose dogs develop separation anxiety despite these efforts.

Differences in serotonin serum concentration between aggressive English cocker spaniels and aggressive dogs of other breeds

Aggression is one of the most common behavioral problems in dogs and may have important negative effects on public health, human–animal bond, and animal welfare. There is ample evidence showing a negative correlation between serum serotonin concentration and aggressive behavior in a variety of species, including the domestic dogs. This negative correlation is particularly pronounced in dogs that show impulsive aggression. Data obtained in some previous studies suggest that the English cocker spaniel (ECS) is more likely to show impulsive aggression than other breeds. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze possible differences in serum serotonin levels between aggressive ECS and aggressive dogs of other breeds. Nineteen ECSs presented for aggression at the Animal Behavior Service (School of Veterinary Science, Barcelona, Spain) were evaluated and compared with 20 aggressive dogs of other breeds attended at the same center. Serum serotonin levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Statistical analysis was done using the SPSS 15.0 for Windows. Aggressive ECSs had significantly (P < 0.001) lower levels of serum serotonin than aggressive dogs of other breeds (318.6 ± 67.1 and 852.77 ± 100.58 ng/mL, respectively). Variances were not significantly different between ECSs and other breeds (standard deviation = 449.84 ng/mL vs. 292.47 ng/mL, P > 0.05). This finding may explain why ECSs are more likely to show impulsive aggression than other breeds, and suggests that the ECS could be a good model to study the neurophysiologic mechanisms underlying impulsive aggression.

The Status of Instrument Development in the Human–Animal Interaction Field

ABSTRACTAn overview of available instruments that assess characteristics of human–animal interactions is provided, followed by a matrix of 140 tools, what they measure, information on structure and properties, original published sources, and a citation, when available, to another study in which the tool was also used. Using Anderson's (2007) book Assessing the Human–Animal Bond: A Compendium of Actual Measures, as a baseline, we systematically searched seven electronic databases. Suggested steps for future instrument development and research include greater accessibility through manualizing, carefully naming, providing design and conceptual rationales, defining key terms, describing revisions along with use and scoring instructions, providing scores from several populations, including validity and reliability data, and taking long-term responsibility for further refinement of instruments.

Dimensions of the Human–Animal Bond and Evacuation Decisions among Pet Owners during Hurricane Ike

ABSTRACTThe events of Hurricane Katrina focused attention on the plight of companion animals and their human guardians during disasters. One result was the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act of 2006. Hurricane Ike, one of the first mass evacuation events after the legislation was signed into law, provided an opportunity to examine pet owner evacuation in a post-Katrina PETS Act environment. The relationships between two dimensions of the human–animal bond—attachment and commitment—and evacuation decisions among pet owners were examined using the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS) and the Miller-Rada Commitment to Pets Scale (CPS). A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to a sample of pet-owning residents in zip codes that had been under mandatory evacuation order. One hundred and twenty valid responses were received. Descriptive and bi-variate statistics and logistic regressions were conducted. The two dimensions of the human–animal bond were positively correlated. The results of the logistic regression found people with higher levels of commitment had lower odds of evacuation, but the level of attachment did not predict human evacuation. Pets were noted to influence decisions among people who evacuated, as well as people who did not. Contrary to the changes expected under the PETS Act, the relationship between the human–animal bond and evacuation decisions was found to be consistent with pre-PETS Act research.

“HOW DOES YOUR COLLAR SUIT ME?”: THE HUMAN ANIMAL IN THE RSPCA'S ANIMAL WORLD AND BAND OF MERCY

There is a central contradiction in human relationships with animals: as Erica Fudge notes, “We live with animals, we recognize them, we even name some of them, but at the same time we use them as if they were inanimate, as if they were objects” (8). Such a contradiction is also, of course, present in human interactions, in which power relations allow for the objectification of one human being by another. In an analysis of images and texts produced by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in the nineteenth-century, I want to examine the overlap in representations of animals and humans as subject to objectification and control. One common way of critiquing human treatment of animals within the RSPCA's journals, Animal World and Band of Mercy, was to have humans trade places with animals: having boys fantastically shrunk to the size of the animals they tortured, for example, or imagining the horrors of vivisection when experienced by humans. Such imaginative exercises were meant to defamiliarize animal usage by implying a shared experience of suffering: what was wrong for a human was clearly just as wrong for an animal. However, I argue that some of the images employed by the society suggest the opposite; instead of constructing animal cruelty in a new light, these images instead work to underline the shared proximity of particular humans with animals. In texts that focus specifically upon humans wearing animal bonds – reins, collars, and muzzles – the RSPCA's anti-cruelty discourse both critiqued the tools of bondage and, I suggest, invited the audience to see deep connections between animals and the humans taking their place. Such connections ultimately weaken the force of the animal/human reversal as an animal rights strategy, suggesting as they do that humans themselves often have use value in economies of labor, affect, and are subject to the same power relations that produce an animal as “animal.”

Effects of Presence of a Familiar Pet Dog on Regional Cerebral Activity in Healthy Volunteers: A Positron Emission Tomography Study

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the effects of the presence of a familiar pet dog on brain activity and psychophysiology in human volunteers. Fourteen participants (2 men, 12 women; mean age ± SD = 43.0 ± 10.8 years) were enrolled in the study. Uptake of 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) on whole-brain positron emission tomography (PET) scans in the presence (but without interaction) and absence of their own pet dog was analyzed. In addition, an electrocardiograph was recorded to assess heart rate variability. Psychological condition was determined using the Stress Response Scale-18 (SRS-18). PET brain images were analyzed and compared between the two conditions (t-tests; p < 0.001) using a statistical parametric mapping program (SPM-5). Deactivated brain areas were detected in the left middle frontal gyrus (Brodmann area: BA 8), the right fusiform gyrus (BA 20), the left putamen, and the thalamus in the presence of the pet dog, indicating reduced regional brain activities associated with stress perception and sympathetic arousal. Similarly, SRS-18 scores were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the presence of the pet dog, indicating a lowered stress response. However, autonomic function was not found to differ significantly between the two conditions. Overall, these results suggest that the participants were “relaxed” in the psychological sense. PET with [18F]FDG appears to be a useful tool for examining the brain mechanisms underlying the psychophysiological well-being associated with the human–animal bond in terms of regional brain responses.

Mental Health Implications of Human Attachment to Companion Animals

Because of the contradictory nature of findings and methodological weaknesses identified within current human-companion animal bond research, there is a need to further explore the connection between human-animal bonds and mental health. The purpose of this survey questionnaire study was to explore the relationship of attachment to companion animal and human psychological distress after controlling for demographic variables, and to investigate whether the relationship between social supports and psychological distress would be moderated by attachment to a companion animal. Results highlight the psychological vulnerability of individuals reporting a strong bond with their companion animal. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for mental health services designed to anticipate and address client-related companion animal needs.