What is anthrozoology and why is it helpful?

Anthrozoology is a discipline dedicated to investigating the bonds and dynamics between human beings and animals. It examines how these relationships manifest in different contexts—social, cultural, historical, and emotional—and how they affect both humans and animals.

Anthrozoology scientifically studies human-animal interaction and the bonds that arise from it.

This field of study is inherently interdisciplinary, meaning it draws from various sciences such as anthropology, psychology, zoology, philosophy, and also ethics.

It analyzes, for example:

• How animals participate in the construction of human identities.

• In what ways they influence people's well-being or health.

• What meanings we assign to them in art, religion, language, and everyday life.

• How the policies and practices that regulate our coexistence with them are developed.

  
  

From a cultural perspective, anthrozoology focuses on how different societies and human groups have interpreted, represented, and valued animals over time.

For example:

• In some cultures, certain animals have a sacred or symbolic value: the cow in India, the jaguar in Mesoamerican cultures, or the raven in Norse mythologies.

• This course explores how animals are present in folklore, myths, folk tales, art, and rituals.

• It also examines how relationships with animals reflect a community's values, hierarchies, or beliefs. For example, whether a culture views animals as part of the family, as resources, or as spiritual entities.

• It also analyzes how these views change over time—for example, how the dog has evolved from being a simple guardian to being considered a member of the family in many parts of the Western world.

From a scientific perspective, anthrozoology empirically and systematically studies how relationships develop between humans and animals, based on observation, experimentation, and data analysis. This is not so much about symbolism or beliefs, but rather about the behaviors and physiological, emotional, and cognitive effects that arise from this interaction:

• Effects of animals on human health, such as the reduction of stress, anxiety, or depression when interacting with pets (measured, for example, through hormone levels such as cortisol or oxytocin).

• Animal behavior in human environments, such as how dogs, cats, or horses adapt to living with people.

• Animal-assisted therapies, evaluating their effectiveness using quantitative and qualitative methods.

• Evolution and domestication, investigating how certain animals came to live closely with humans throughout history (for example, through genetic and archaeological studies).

• Neuroscience of the human-animal relationship, analyzing how the human brain responds to the presence or company of an animal.

  
  

This approach seeks to explain and predict phenomena related to human-animal interaction, and is often oriented toward improving the well-being physically and psychologically.

Animals are not only beings with whom we interact physically, but also figures charged with cultural significance, helping us define who we are, what we believe, and how we understand the world.

Ultimately, anthrozoology seeks to understand the multiple ways in which humans and animals coexist, communicate, influence, and represent each other in different societies and eras.