Humans and Other Animals ...
Humans have had relationships with other animals since the beginning of our own timeline. Archaeologists are pretty certain that dogs were our first "pets," or companion animals. Humans kept dogs as far back as 30,000 years ago, when we lived as hunters and gatherers. Dogs have a sharp sense of hearing and smell (which helped to warn of approaching predators) and good hunting skills. Humans and dogs helped each other survive. It was a mutually beneficial relationship. This short "Ask Smithsonian" video discusses the history of the relationship between human beings and dogs:
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The next video, from PBS's "Origin of Everything" series, looks at the relationship between humans and nonhuman animals throughout history. It's an in-depth video, recommended for middle school and above, but upper elementary school students may also enjoy it:
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for food - milk (cows and goats), eggs (chickens and duck) and meat (pigs, cows, chickens, goats). As societies grew and became more complex, people created three categories for animals: there were "pets" (our companions, whom we sometimes gave jobs to, but also just enjoyed spending time with), "farm animals" (used for practical purposes - transportation, farming, and food), and "wild animals" (who lived independently, in natural spaces, and kept their distance from humans).
As PBS explains, dogs were the only other animals people formed a close bond with before the start of agriculture. When people began farming, they domesticated some animals to use as labor or food. Horses and camels were used for transportation, for example, and oxen were used to plow fields. People used sheep's wool to make clothing. As humans switched from hunting and gathering to agriculture, we domesticated numerous farm animals
You may be wondering where cats fit into this story. Unlike dogs, cats were not good at warning people about danger, and (while they are good hunters) they never hunted together with humans. How did these furry felines make their way into people's homes and hearts? Like dogs, cats were among the earliest domesticated animals. The ancient Egyptians worshiped several cat goddesses - Bastet, Sekmet, Mafdet and Tefnut. Egyptians
worshiped and even mummified cats. As early as the civilization of ancient Cyprus, there is evidence of cats being buried with humans. Anthropologists believe that cats became domesticated because they were so good at catching mice. When people began farming, their survival during the winter
Egyptian cat goddess, Bastet
depended upon storing grain and other harvest crops. Mice and rats could destroy the winter harvest, and cats could hunt these vermin. So people began to domesticate those cats who seemed friendly, and over time wild cats evolved into house cats, as their relationship with people developed.
Today there are almost 8 billion humans living on planet Earth. As the human population grows, our wildlife areas dwindle. In the future, we will be increasingly faced with the challenge of how to make the world's food production more "sustainable" (earth friendly) and developing regulations that ensure farm animals are treated humanely. In modern society, we are also faced with an overpopulation of companion pets. In the USA alone, millions of homeless pets enter animal shelters each year. As our population grows, people need to be conscious of the well-being of the animals we share our planet with - including wild animals, farm animals and domestic companions.
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This service learning course focuses on shelter animals. What category of animals are these? If you said "pets," you are correct! Since our earliest history, dogs and cats have evolved as companions to people. They've adapted to human culture and have become our close friends - family, even, you could say. Over thousands of years, animal companions have adapted to living with humans. Pets without a human family are 'homeless' and vulnerable. Today, in the United States, about 8 million stray and unwanted animals are taken to shelters each year. Around the world, today, we are dealing with a homeless pet crisis.
History of Domestic Animals
(Big History Project)
Genetically Engineering Animals 10,000 Yearrs
Under One Sky
(Narrated by Leonardo di Caprio)
Pet Domestication Shrinks Brains ...
Would Your Pet Survive in the Wild?
Pet Domestication Shrinks Brains ...
Companion Animals
Sixty-two percent of all US households include one or more companion animal, according to the American Pet Products Association’s 2011-2012 National Pet Owners Survey. Most often they are dogs and cats, but horses, birds, rabbits, goats, gerbils, snakes, rats, mice, fish, amphibians and other species also share our homes and our lives. Often companion animals are our best friends, and help make the family complete. When asked to list the 10 most important individuals in their lives, 7- and 10-year-old children included an average of two pets on their lists. In another survey, 42% of 5-year-old children spontaneously mentioned their pets when asked, “Whom do you turn to when you are feeling sad, angry, happy, or wanting to share a secret?”