Human-Animal Interaction Archive

Feb 05, 2026 The Indian Supreme Court Acts on the Stray Dog Issue: Is it a Crisis or an Opportunity? Part 2

Posted at 08:58h In Animals in Our World, Articles, Human-Animal Interaction, Letter from the President - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

Part 1 of this story discussed the recent actions of the Indian Supreme Court following the death of a young girl from rabies after a dog bite. The justices raised important questions about finding the right balance between human and animal welfare; however, they seemingly...

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Jan 06, 2026 The Indian Supreme Court Acts on the Stray Dog Issue: Is it a Crisis or an Opportunity? Part 1

Posted at 10:41h In Animals in Our World, Human-Animal Interaction, Letter from the President - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

On July 28, 2025, the Times of India published a report titled "Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price" following the tragic death of a 6-year-old girl who contracted rabies after being bitten by stray dogs. This article caught the attention of two judges from the...

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Dec 22, 2025 Book Review: “A Street Cat Named Bob”

Posted at 03:00h In Animals in Our World, Articles, Book Review, Human-Animal Interaction, Tales of WellBeing - By Steven Hansch and Leslie Barcus

The true story, A Street Cat Named Bob, is an international best-seller about twin redemption: that of a homeless tabby street cat and a homeless Englishman who adopt each other and help one another heal, leading to celebrity status for both cat and human. The author,...

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May 29, 2025 Identifying the Health Benefits of Companion Animals: What About George?

Posted at 09:56h In Animals in Our World, Articles, Human-Animal Interaction, Tales of WellBeing - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

Dr. Boris Levinson (1907-1984), a psychologist, reportedly coined the term "pet therapy" in 1964. However, Levinson's initiative was criticized by his colleagues. Thirteen years later, the Delta Society, founded by a group of veterinarians and a psychiatrist in 1977 (now doing business as Pet Partners),...

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May 29, 2025 The Jingles Awards: The Power of Anecdotes

Posted at 09:53h In Animals in Our World, Articles, Human-Animal Interaction, Tales of WellBeing - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

Around 1990, the Delta Society (now Pet Partners – an organization supporting animal-assisted activities and therapy) held its annual meeting in New Jersey. During one of the lunchtime sessions, five Jingles Awards were issued to five human-animal teams representing different areas of human-animal cooperation. The...

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May 29, 2025 Maggie and Joe: The Power of the Human-Animal Bond

Posted at 09:51h In Animals in Our World, Articles, Human-Animal Interaction, Tales of WellBeing - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

In 1991, DC veterinarian Earl Strimple published an article in the Journal of the Veterinary Medical Association (Volume 199(2):206-208) describing the impact of Maggie, a small Yorkshire Terrier, on Joe, the sexton at Dr. Strimple's church, Maggie was the companion of the minister at the...

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Feb 25, 2025 Communicating with Animals

Posted at 13:36h In Animals in Our World, Human-Animal Interaction, Tales of WellBeing - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

Numerous predictions exist about the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on various aspects of human life. One significant area where AI is already making a difference is language translation. It is being used for everything from providing subtitles for video productions to helping tourists communicate...

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Jan 21, 2025 Shades of Hitchcock’s Film “The Birds”

Posted at 09:52h In Animals in Our World, Articles, Human-Animal Interaction, Tales of WellBeing - By Andrew Rowan

Video credit: Tamer ALKIS, iStock In 1999, the West Nile Virus was introduced to the eastern United States through an unknown route. The virus was particularly lethal to crows and their relatives, such as blue jays. Experts estimated that the crow population in the U.S. declined...

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Oct 10, 2024 Changing Attitudes and Conflicts Over Wolf Management

Posted at 16:00h In Animals in Our World, Human-Animal Interaction, Letter from the President - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

WellBeing News has published three articles on the changing attitudes towards wolves and the conflicts arising from wolf management in North America:  The Wolf Pendulum in the United States, May 10, 2021, Human-Wolf Conflict and Wolf Protection, January 31, 2022, and Wolves Revisited, March 2,...

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Jun 18, 2024 Communicating Animals: A Doctor Dolittle Story

Posted at 15:46h In Animals in Our World, Articles, Human-Animal Interaction, Tales of WellBeing - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

In 1980, Robert Seyfarth, Dorothy Cheney and Peter Marler published a paper in Science reporting that a vervet monkey troop in Amboseli National Park in Kenya used three different alarm calls to signify danger respectively from eagles, leopards and snakes. According to Snowdon, this paper...

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