The Value of (Research on) Animals in Children's Lives

摘要

If numbers are any indication, then it appears animals play an important part in people's lives. Roughly three-quarters of families with children (and two-thirds of Americans in general) have a pet in their homes [American Veterinary Medical Association, 2007]. The hallowed place of animals is not restricted to modern times. Rather, evidence abounds of the unique place animals - particularly domesticated animals - have held over the millennia, perhaps most canonically in the form of selective breeding of species such as dogs for specific purposes [Shepard, 1997]. While we cannot say precisely at what point domesticated animals stepped over the threshold from instrumental use to social companions (or perhaps these roles have largely co-existed), we can say that many animals are considered to be important members of their human families with many, if not most, of the accompanying treatment and privileges.