This collection examines human-animal relations and the different ways in which they can be understood, exploring animal rights and animal welfare; whether and under what circumstances animals are regarded as social actors with agency; media representations of human-animal relations; and the relation between animals and national identity.

Human language is unique among animals. We assume that complex cognitive capacities in general and language in particular evolved gradually and thus are manifest in different kinds and/or degrees in other animals demonstrating social communication. This assumption is supported by the fact that we can train social species from very different groups of animals (e.g. great apes, dolphins, dogs, parrots) to understand and in several cases even use abstract symbols for communication with humans and conspecifics. Even simple grammatical rules for sequences of 2-3 symbols can be trained to be understood by several species (e.g. great apes, dogs, dolphins). Even though human language training in these species takes considerable time and effort, it convinces us that cognitive foundations for language are present in other species, and, given the relevant selection pressures, symbolic communication could evolve in other species.

This interdisciplinary and cross-cultural collection reflects the growth of animal studies as an independent field and the rise of 'animality' as a critical lens through which to analyze society and culture, on par with race and gender.

This book explores the history and nature of our dependency on other animals and the implications of this for human and animal health. Writing from an historical and sociological perspective, Joanna Swabe's work discusses such issues as: * animal domestication * the consequences of human exploitation of other animals, including links between human and animal disease * the rise of a veterinary regime, designed to protect humans and animals alike * implications of intensive farming practices, pet-keeping and recent biotechnological developments. This account spans a period of some ten thousand years, and raises important questions about the increasing intensification of animal use for both animal and human health.

Heritage is a social construction rooted in modern and contemporary societies. It is commonly a positive assessment of many elements of the physical and human environment (e.g. ecosystems and landscapes, monuments, customs, gender norms, religious practices, gastronomy, and livelihoods). Heritage and tourism are strongly related to each other in that heritage gives rise to tourist attractions and activities, and tourism enhances the designation of heritage sites. A post-humanist perspective the moral valuation of equality between humans and other animals demands that both are sentient beings and self-aware of their pain and pleasure. Thus, the involvement of animals as heritage elements by themselves or as an element of tourist consumption in heritage sites implies their commodification and lack of agency. As such, these practices are usually unethical, since they threaten the animals' primary interests: not to suffer, not to feel pain and to be able to live their freedom. This book contains chapters that reveal both the unethical interactions between humans and animals within heritage tourism, and those that show experiences in which efforts are made to minimize damage within the commercialization of animals involved as heritage themselves.

Taking in a wide range of visual and textual materials, Linda Kalof in Looking at Animals in Human History unearths many surprising and revealing examples of our depictions of animals.

Including the work of 12 authors from institutions such as Colorado State University, Frostburg State University, Michigan State University, Salisbury University, Texas Woman’s University, University of Birmingham, University of California; Irvine, University of California; Merced, and William Jessup University, Rocklin; California, the collection of essays explores the broad range of animals who share our planet and attempts to recognize our responsibility as humans to take their interests seriously.

Animals and Human Society provides a solid, scientific, research-based background to advance understanding of how animals impact humans. Animals have had profound effects on people from the earliest times, ranging from zoonotic diseases, to the global impact of livestock, poultry and fish production, to the influences of human-associated animals on the environment (on extinctions, air and water pollution, greenhouse gases, etc.), to the importance of animals in human evolution and hunter -gatherer communities.As a resource for both science and non-science, Animals and Human Society can be used as a text for courses in Animals and Human Society or Animal Science, or as supplemental material for Introduction to Animal Science. It offers foundational background to those who may have little background in animal agriculture and have focused interest on companion animals and horses. The work introduces livestock production (including poultry and aquaculture) but also includes coverage of companion and lab animals. In addition, animal behavior and animal perception are covered.Animals and Human Society is likewise an excellent resource for researchers, academics, or students newly entering a related field or coming from another discipline and needing foundational information, as well as interested laypersons looking to augment their knowledge on the many impacts of animals in human society. - Features research-based and pedagogically sound content, with learning goals and textboxes to provide key information - Challenges readers to consider issues based on facts rather than polemics - Poses ethical questions and raises overall societal impacts - Balances traditional animal science with companion animals, animal biology, zoonotic diseases, animal products, environmental impacts and all aspects of human/animal interaction

This volume of case studies on animal ethics deals with important social controversies involving the human use of animals and analyzes the moral issues involved. An introduction to ethical theory provides a framework to the 16 original case studies, which include the use of animals in research, testing and education, as food, as companion animals, and in religious rites.; The book is intended for bioethics courses and animal career staff.

Modern society is beginning to re-examine its whole relationship with animals and the natural world. Until recently issues such as animal welfare and environmental protection were considered the domain of small, idealistic minorities. Now, these issues attract vast numbers of articulate supporters who collectively exercise considerable political muscle. Animals, both wild and domestic, form the primary focus of concern in this often acrimonious debate. Yet why do animals evoke such strong and contradictory emotions in people - and do our western attitudes have anything in common with those of other societies and cultures? Bringing together a range of contributions from distinguished experts in the field, Animals and Society explores the importance of animals in society from social, historical and cross-cultural perspectives.