Introduction
Most people, at least in Western countries, eat parts (meat or fish) or products (mainly dairy and eggs) of animals every day, often during three meals.1 In these countries, there is barely any tradition of cooking meals without...
animals
Our own interest in the paradox of animal care/exploitation arose from observing the puzzling phenomenon of children’s fast food meals that juxtapose animal products – such as burgers or chicken nuggets – with toy representations of animal characters from Hollywood films such...
To paraphrase (or butcher, depending on your view), the words of Winnicott; there is no such thing as the human race. That is, similar to the baby that cannot live without a caregiver, the human race cannot live outside of the planet’s ecosystems or natural natural...
Every student of psychology learns about what is now referred to as ‘classical conditioning’, and Ivan Pavlov remains one of the most cited psychologists of all time to this day. The term a ‘Pavlovian response’ has even entered our everyday language, to refer to the...
Several years ago, with MSc students Georgina Hodgman and Emma Pollard, I was facilitating a focus group with some long-term prisoners. The prisoners were all former members of the armed forces. There was real poignancy in hearing from people who had once served their country...
I always watch the news after dinner, but once we’d had Ghost for a while, there was another reason to appreciate this habit. He took to lying on the other side of the room where he’d look at me. Before when I’d tried to make eye contact, his eyes would swivel away. But that...
Cecil the lion was accustomed to being photographed by tourists; he wore a tracker. He was 13 years old, and lived in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. On the night of 1 July 2015, an American dentist called Walter Palmer shot Cecil with a crossbow, wounding him. Palmer then...
I have had pets for my whole life. As a child, I grew up with cats and I couldn’t wait to get a cat when I bought my own home earlier this year. I was so excited that I reserved my kitten several weeks before we moved in, and collected her two days after.
I was looking...
Psychological research into animal behaviour has shown the sometimes surprising abilities of animal minds, and what sets humans apart, if anything… Other research has investigated our relationships with and feelings towards animals, including the use of animals for therapy....
Owning a dog is an integral part of many peoples’ lives from childhood through adolescence and adulthood up until older age. Everyone has their reasons for owning a dog but does research support any of those reasons? Can owning a dog truly be a...