In the Company of Animals: A Study of Human-Animal Relationships [Paperback]

James Serpell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 13, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0521577799 | ISBN-13: 978-0521577793 | Edition: Rev Sub

In the Company of Animals is an original and very readable study of human attitudes to the natural world. It contrasts the way we love some animals while ruthlessly exploiting others; it provides a detailed and fascinating account of ways in which animal companionship can influence our health; and it provides a key to understanding the moral contradictions inherent in our treatment of animals and nature. Its scope encompasses history, anthropology, and animal and human psychology. Along the way, the author uncovers a fascinating trail of insights and myths about our relationship with the species with which we share the planet. James Serpell is the editor of The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behavior and Interactions With People (CUP, 1995).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Arguing by copious example in a thoroughly well-researched and well-written book, Serpell demonstrates that pet-keeping appeals both to a wide variety of cultures throughout the world, and to all social classes within Western society." Stephen J. Gould, The New York Review of Books

"In the Company of Animals is a work of cross-cultural panache. Serpell writes passionately and well about a subject that seems to have fallen between the cracks of specializations. His overview is sweeping and provocative." Time Magazine

"Why did James Serpell feel the need to write a book in defence of pet-keeping? Surely this is one aspect of human behaviour that requires no advocacy. But read on. Indeed, read this book, for it is full of fascinating comments on a subject that many of us have taken for granted." Desmond Morris, BBC Wildlife Wildlife

Book Description

Contrasting the way we love some animals while ruthlessly exploiting others, this study provides a detailed and fascinating account of the ways in which animal companionship can influence our health. It provides a key to the moral contradiction inherent in our treatment of animals and nature.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (Canto); Rev Sub edition (August 13, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521577799
• ISBN-13: 978-0521577793
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Primatology
  • #63 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Animal Behavior & Communication

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best introduction to human-animal studies, August 25, 2003

By 

Harold Herzog (Cullowhee, NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In the Company of Animals: A Study of Human-Animal Relationships (Paperback)

In the Company of Animals is the single best introduction to anthrozoology - the study of human-animal interactions. A woman once told me about her experience reading it. She said simply, "That book changed my life." Serpell is a both a powerful writer and a leading scholar in this field. The first half of In the Company of Animals is largely concerned with the who, what, and why of maintaining non-human animals as companions. In the breadth of his coverage, Serpell displays an impressive command of psychology, ethology, history, cultural anthropology, and behavioral medicine. A brief sampling of a few representative topics illustrates the span of Serpell's intellectual vision: the role of pets in sixteenth century witchcraft, the effects of watching aquarium fish on blood pressure, bestiality, social parasitism, and why dogs rather than pigs became companion animals. Serpell argues that individuals who keep pets have often been viewed with scorn, suspicion, and pity. At times, pet owners have been subjected to persecution and even death. Thus, this part of the book is essentially a defense of companion animals. Serpell reviews recent studies documenting the benefits of pets to human health, psychological well-being, and the amelioration of loneliness. He concludes that the company of animals serves to buffer their owners from the interpersonal isolation all too common in modern industrial societies.
The second half of In the Company of Animals focuses on the darker side of human-animal interactions. Serpell is particularly adept at describing paradoxes inherent if our interactions with other species. Among my favorites are the dual roles of puppies in Southeast Asian households (pets and dinner), Adolf Hitler's commitment to animal welfare, and the love people have for dogs coupled with an equally passionate loathing for their immediate progenitor, the wolf. Serpell, however, goes further than listing the foibles that characterize human-animal relationships. He develops an explanation, suggesting that these paradoxes ultimately reflect the evolutionary processes which have shaped the human mind.
Serpell believes that moral conflict that emerges in our relationships with animals stems from a tendency we inherited from our hunter-gatherer forbearers -- the penchant for meat. By nature we are exploiters of animals. But unlike tigers and wolves and boa constrictors, we are carnivores with a sense of guilt. As a result we have developed psychological mechanisms that allow us to maintain the "myth of human supremacy." He believes this is an illusion which developed as cultures shifted from hunter-gatherer economies to those based on the slaughter of domestic animals. This hypothesis provides a powerful perspective on the contradictions seen in human-animal relationships.
While readers may not agree with all of Serpell's ideas, they will find that In the Company of Animals is a beautifully written book that is rich in both facts and provocative ideas. It will appeal to both animal lovers and the scholars who study them.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Human-Animal relationships explained!!, March 26, 1999

By 

Kristin P. Harvey [e-mail] (Worcester,MA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Company of Animals: A Study of Human-Animal Relationships (Paperback)

An excellent book exploring every possible angle of the human-animal bond. Why we love and need animals, what we do to them, and everything in between! Very well written and understandable. After reading many books on this subject, this was my favorite! Everyone who reads this book will have a greater understanding and love of animals. Animals are good for our health, physically and mentally. Serpell also makes us realize what the human race is doing to animals, such as testing on them or eating them!! This is a must read for any animal lover who is truly bonded to their pet or pets like I am!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic by a Highly Esteemed Scholar, April 1, 2003

By 

Patricia Anderson "[e-mail]" (Macomb, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Company of Animals: A Study of Human-Animal Relationships (Paperback)

As a professor of anthropology who teaches a course on Anthrozoology at Western Illinois University, I highly recommend In the Company of Animals. Anthrozoology (the scientific study of human-animal interaction) is a dynamic new area of study and Dr Serpell is one of the founders. This book is required reading for my course, and students love it! Serpell's work explores the phenomena of domestication and pet keeping, or companion animals (as we prefer to call them now), from a cross-cultural and evolutionary perspective that is highly anthropological. Shame on us! An Anthropologist should have written this book! I highly recommend this work.