ANIMSCI 2367 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Parasitism, Biophilia Hypothesis, Pet
12 Nov 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Pets & Companions
Companion animal and human relationships:
● · Mutualism and parasitism: nurturing a sick baby animal
● · Pet: Any animal domesticated or tamed and kept as a favorite, with indulgence and
fondness.
○ 1500 mostly referred to children
○ Now referred to animals
● · South East Asia: dogs, pigeons, parrots, bats
● · North americans: deer, moose, bison, raccoons, wolves, dogs
● · What determines if a species can be kept in the house:
○ o Suitability
○ o Availability: rarity, culture and religion
○ o Culture
○ o Religion
○ o Personal preferences
● · Origins of pet keeping:
○ o Primitive humans/hunter gatherers were first to keep pets
○ o Why did they have pets?
■ § They didn’t keep records so we don’t know why
■ § But they gave them valuable animal handling experience to make them
better hunters
■ § They collected small reptiles to give to their children in order to provide
them with responsibility, companionship, and they could also learn about
them (they could learn to hunt and kill them)
○ o Other theories:
■ § This behavior may have provided benefits to humans
■ § Disease control (rodent population)
■ § Less rubbish (dogs)
■ § Warning systems
■ § Animals started staying with us and we tolerated it so they became
domesticated
■ § Biophilia hypothesis: People who like living close to animals might have
had a survival advantage in out past.
● · Why do we continue to keep pets?
○ o Cute response?
○ o Social parasites? Innate instinct to care for human infants
○ o So basically they trick us into taking care of them
● · Social parasitism as an explanation of pet keeping:
○ o 62% of all US households have a pet
○ o many people who don’t own pets wish that they did
○ o Pet keeping maybe for some people who can't relate to other peoples (socially
handicapped)
○ o Pets provide social support
○ o We aren’t all socially deficient…
Document Summary
Mutualism and parasitism: nurturing a sick baby animal. Pet: any animal domesticated or tamed and kept as a favorite, with indulgence and fondness. South east asia: dogs, pigeons, parrots, bats. North americans: deer, moose, bison, raccoons, wolves, dogs. What determines if a species can be kept in the house: O primitive humans/hunter gatherers were first to keep pets. They didn"t keep records so we don"t know why. But they gave them valuable animal handling experience to make them better hunters. They collected small reptiles to give to their children in order to provide them with responsibility, companionship, and they could also learn about them (they could learn to hunt and kill them) This behavior may have provided benefits to humans. Animals started staying with us and we tolerated it so they became domesticated. Biophilia hypothesis: people who like living close to animals might have had a survival advantage in out past.
