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ASAS Centennial Paper: Perspectives on Domestication: The History of Our Relationship with Man’s Best Friend

AutumnGold Consulting

lcase{at}autumngoldconsulting.com

Abstract

America is a society of dog lovers. The statistics bear this out. Currently, 40 percent of households in the US include at least one dog, totaling more than 61 million canine companions (AVMA, 2002). It is also clear that these dogs are important to us. According to a survey conducted by the American Animal Hospital Association (2002), 94 percent of owners consider their pet to have human-like personality traits, 93 percent say that they would risk their own life for their pet, and half said they would choose their dog as their single companion if stranded on a deserted island! This devotion is further illustrated by the exponential growth of the pet supply industry, including increasing numbers of pet "super-stores," play-parks, training centers, and doggie day care centers. Pet food sales are a multi-billion dollar industry and pet owners spend approximately 11 billion dollars each year on veterinary care (APPMA, 2008). Finally, numerous studies of the relationships between people and dogs have shown that pets provide significant benefits to our emotional, physical and social well being (Wilson and Turner, 1998). Yet, there is also a dark side to this relationship. Animal shelters in the United States kill between 3 and 4 million dogs and cats annually. Dog fighting, although outlawed, has reached epidemic proportions in some areas of the country. The connection between animal cruelty and domestic violence is well established and cases of animal hoarding and neglect have been reported in almost every community (Faver and Strand, 2003; Patronek, 2006).

Key Words: dogs • domestication • human-animal interactions