Our Wild Calling


Book Description

“A book that offers hope.” —The New York Times Book Review “A wondrous tapestry.” —Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel Audubon Medal winner Richard Louv’s landmark book Last Child in the Woods inspired an international movement to connect children and nature. Now he redefines the future of human-animal coexistence. In Our Wild Calling, Louv interviews researchers, theologians, wildlife experts, indigenous healers, psychologists, and others to show how people are connecting with animals in ancient and new ways, and how this serves as an antidote to the growing epidemic of human loneliness; how dogs can teach children ethical behavior; how animal-assisted therapy may yet transform the mental health field; and what role the human-animal relationship plays in our spiritual health. He reports on wildlife relocation and on how the growing populations of wild species in urban areas are blurring the lines between domestic and wild animals. Our Wild Calling makes the case for protecting, promoting, and creating a sustainable and shared habitat for all creatures—not out of fear, but out of love. Includes a new interview with the author, discussion questions, and a resource guide.




The Animal Connection


Book Description

Written to inspire the loving connection to animals and nature. Liz shares her trials to triumph stories with you to guide you to a level of connection where you become the best version of yourself.




Transforming Trauma


Book Description

Have you ever looked deep into the eyes of an animal and felt entirely known? Often, the connections we share with non-human animals represent our safest and most reliable relationships, offering unique and profound opportunities for healing in periods of hardship. This book focuses on research developments, models, and practical applications of human-animal connection and animal-assisted intervention for diverse populations who have experienced trauma. Physiological and psychological trauma are explored across three broad and interconnected domains: 1) child maltreatment and family violence; 2) acute and post-traumatic stress, including military service, war, and developmental trauma; and 3) times of crisis, such as the ever-increasing occurrence of natural disasters, community violence, terrorism, and anticipated or actual grief and loss. Contributing authors, who include international experts in the fields of trauma and human-animal connection, examine how our relationships with animals can help build resiliency and foster healing to transform trauma. A myriad of animal species and roles, including companion, therapy, and service animals are discussed. Authors also consider how animals are included in a variety of formal and informal models of trauma recovery across the human lifespan, with special attention paid to canine- and equine-assisted interventions and psychotherapy. In addition, authors emphasize the potential impacts to animals who provide trauma-informed services, and discuss how we can respect their participation and implement best practices and ethical standards to ensure their well-being. The reader is offered a comprehensive understanding of the history of research in this field, as well as the latest advancements and areas in need of further or refined investigation. Likewise, authors explore, in depth, emerging practices and methodologies for helping people and communities thrive in the face of traumatic events and their long-term impacts. As animals are important in cultures all over the world, cross-cultural and often overlooked animal-assisted and animal welfare applications are also highlighted throughout the text.




The Animal World


Book Description

Kids will love learning about the ways in which animals are related to each other in this beautifully illustrated book! What do a raccoon and a river otter have in common? An elephant seal and a leopard? How about a slow loris and a gorilla? The Animal World collects members of the same taxonomic order, which are groups of animals with similar features, together in an informative and accessible way through easy-to-read facts about each animal. Kids will love learning about the ways in which animals are related to each other, and Kelsey Oseid's charming illustrations bring the text to life in this enchanting look at the animal kingdom




The Animal Connection: A New Perspective on What Makes Us Human


Book Description

A bold, illuminating new take on the love of animals that drove human evolution. Why do humans all over the world take in and nurture other animals? This behavior might seem maladaptive—after all, every mouthful given to another species is one that you cannot eat—but in this heartening new study, acclaimed anthropologist Pat Shipman reveals that our propensity to domesticate and care for other animals is in fact among our species' greatest strengths. For the last 2.6 million years, Shipman explains, humans who coexisted with animals enjoyed definite adaptive and cultural advantages. To illustrate this point, Shipman gives us a tour of the milestones in human civilization-from agriculture to art and even language—and describes how we reached each stage through our unique relationship with other animals. The Animal Connection reaffirms our love of animals as something both innate and distinctly human, revealing that the process of domestication not only changed animals but had a resounding impact on us as well.







Our Animal Connection


Book Description

This book covers the many ways humans benefit from interactions with other living species. By studying animals of all kinds and sizes, from microbial organisms to elephants and whales, we can learn about their adaptations to extreme conditions on the planet Earth, about the evolutionary development of specialized capabilities, and about their ways to defend themselves against predators and diseases. The authors discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Homo sapiens, and how the study of animals can make us stronger and healthier. To deepen our knowledge of genetics, molecular and cell biology, physiology and medicine, we need to study model organisms. To cure human disease, we can learn from animals how they have evolved ways to protect themselves. To improve human performance, we can study the animal kingdom’s top performers and learn from their successes. Considering these important pointers, the authors review genetic engineering techniques that can translate our existing and future animal connections into benefits for human health and performance. Finally, they discuss the challenges associated with our animal connection: the history of pandemics caused by bacterial and viral pathogens demonstrates that there is a risk for transmission of diseases that can disrupt human societies. The recent COVID-19 outbreak is covered in detail as an example.




Art, Ethics and the Human-Animal Relationship


Book Description

This book examines the works of major artists between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, as important barometers of individual and collective values toward non-human life. Once viewed as merely representational, these works can also be read as tangential or morally instrumental by way of formal analysis and critical theories. Chapter Two demonstrates the discrimination toward large and small felines in Genesis and The Book of Revelation. Chapter Three explores the cruel capture of free roaming animals and how artists depicted their furs, feathers and shells in costume as symbols of virtue and vice. Chapter Four identifies speciest beliefs between donkeys and horses. Chapter Five explores the altered Dutch kitchen spaces and disguised food animals in various culinary constructs in still life painting. Chapter Six explores the animal substances embedded in pigments. Chapter Seven examines animals in absentia-in the crafting of brushes. The book concludes with the fish paintings of William Merritt Chase whose glazing techniques demonstrate an artistic approach that honors fishes as sentient beings.




Introduction to Human-Animal Interaction


Book Description

Introduction to Human-Animal Interaction focuses on the human dimension of interacting with other animals. This book introduces recent developments, theories, and debates in the relatively new research area of Human-Animal Interaction (HAI) and focuses on the social and life sciences aspect of these interactions. Experts from different academic disciplines provide an overview for students and professionals interested in how humans and other animals interact, and what advantages and disadvantages emerge for both parties in this relationship. The book starts with the theories and mechanisms supporting our interactions with animals, such as human-animal communication, and it then covers the implications of HAI in terms of ethics and welfare. After discussing cultural differences and forensic aspects in human-animal interaction (e.g., wildlife crime and animal abuse), the book examines evidence in the area of animal-assisted intervention. The final chapters give an overview of current research in specific human-animal interaction systems: human-pet, human-livestock and human-wildlife interaction. The book offers a scientific, evidence-based perspective on human-animal interaction, providing pedagogical tools to make a systematic, critical and constructive evaluation of research in HAI possible. It offers a range of in-text pedagogical features like a subject index, chapter MCQs, open questions, further reading, and additional digital resources including videos which are accessible via QR codes or through the associated website. This textbook provides the fundamental tools for achieving a comprehensive, current, and critical overview of the HAI field and is an integral text for undergraduate and postgraduate students undertaking modules in human-animal interaction, in social sciences such as anthropology, cultural studies, criminology, ethics and laws or in life sciences such as animal behaviour, conservation and welfare, biology, neuroscience, physiology, psychology, public health and those studying veterinary science.




Animal Assisted Therapy in Counseling


Book Description

Animal Assisted Therapy in Counseling is the most comprehensive book available dedicated to training mental health practitioners in Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT). It explains the history and practice of AAT in counseling, discusses the latest empirical research, and provides an in-depth explanation of the psychodynamics of AAT within various theoretical frameworks. Readers will learn the proper way to select, train, and evaluate an animal for therapy. The use of a number of different therapy animals is considered, including dogs, cats, horses, birds, farm animals, rabbits and other small animals, and dolphins. Guidelines for implementing AAT in settings such as private practices, community agencies, schools, hospices, and prisons are covered, as well as ethical and legal considerations, risk management, diversity issues, and crisis and disaster response applications. Numerous case examples illustrate the use of AAT principles with clients, and forms, client handouts, and other resources provide valuable tools. This unique resource is an indispensable guide for any counselor looking to develop and implement AAT techniques in his or her practice.