Dog adoption is a popular way for people to find pets in the United States. With dog adoption comes dog adoption narratives, ideologically about the dog, told by humans for humans. Dog adoption narratives, a genre of personal experience narrative, enact a series of formalized conventions that reveal societal binaries, tensions, and anxieties in the interspecies relationship. Using an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, I highlight the way these narratives are performed, organized, and interpreted. By comparing the adoption narratives of two different groups, people who regularly visit dog parks and people who do dog rehabilitation work, I argue that these narratives yield insight about the way humans perceive dogs in the United States within the context of how humans themselves want to be perceived by other humans. Dogs become a form of cultural capital and dog adoption narratives a reflection of cultural attitudes towards, and informed interactions with, the human-dog relationship.

Depuis une quarantaine d'années la place des animaux est devenue problématique et a été re-problématisée dans les sociétés occidentales contemporaines. La montée de la prise en compte sociale des intérêts des animaux, de la bienveillance à leur égard, recompose les représentations << traditionnelles » et « modernes » du monde animal. A travers l'exemple du développement des pratiques de soin par le contact animalier (Zoothérapie, Thérapie Assistée par l'Animal, Médiation Animale ... ), j'analyse les mécanismes de revalorisation de la présence animale auprès des humains. Ces pratiques contribuent à l'avènement d'un nouveau régime de compagnonnage anthropozoologique, dans lequel la bienveillance vis,à-vis de l'animal occupe une grande place. L'hypothèse de ce travail est que la reconnaissance d'une valeur thérapeutique au contact avec l'animal permet de rendre cette bienveillance légitime et d'enrôler tout un réseau d'acteurs autorisant le développement à grande échelle de ce nouveau régime relationnel. Ainsi, j'ai suivi comment la conviction selon laquelle l'interaction avec l'animal améliore une relation de soin "classique", a pu naître, être diffusée, mise à l'épreuve du travail scientifique, et s'actualiser dans des pratiques concrètes. La première partie aborde la constitution d'un champ de savoir autonome autour des questions de l'interaction avec l'animal à but thérapeutique, à travers une analyse bibliographique. La deuxième partie traite des réseaux d'acteurs qui ont promu le soin par le contact animalier,son développement, sa professionnalisation et sa standardisation. Enfin, une troisième partie décrit plus particulièrement les pratiques, en situation, à travers l'analyse d'observations ethnographiques et d'entretiens. / Since forty years, place of the animals become problematic in the contemporary western societies. The ascent of the social consideration of the interests of animals, benevolence towards them, recomposes the "traditional " and "modem" representations of the animal kingdom. Through the exemple of the development of the practices of care using animal contact (Zootherapy, Animal-Assisted Therapy) I analyze the mechanisms of revalorization of the animal presence with the buman beings. These practices contribute to the advent of a new regime of anthrozoological companionship, in which the benevolence towards the animal plays a big role. The hypothesis of this work is that the recognition of a therapeutic value in the contact with animais allows to return thisjustifiable benevolence and to enlist a whole actors' network authorizing the large-scale development of this new "relational regime." I followed how the conviction tbat interaction with the animal improves a "classic" relation of care, was born, spread, put to the test of the scientific work, and became accomplished in concrete practices. The first part approaches the constitution of a field of autonomous knowledge about interactions with animals with therapeutic purpose, through a bibliographical analysis. The second part deals with actors' networks whichh promoted the care by the animal contact, its development, its professionalization and its standardization. Finally, the third part describes more particularly the situated practices, through the analysis of ethnographicalobservations and interviews.

According to Terror Management Theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) a key function of cultural worldviews is facilitating people's belief that they are different from animals and therefore more than physical creatures fated to obliteration upon death. We sought to investigate the relationship between peoples’ perceived similarity to animals (PSA) and their investment in their ingroup cultural-worldviews, creativity and personal achievement, as ways of managing their awareness of death. We focused on four central hypotheses: (1) high faith in cultural worldviews should reduce PSA; (2) people who view themselves less similar to animals (low-PSA) should be more invested in their cultural worldview, especially after death primes; (3) people who view themselves as more similar to animals (high-PSA), should invest more in personal achievement and creativity as a terror management strategy and (4) be more prone to experience anxiety, particularly after a threat to their creativity. Supporting Hypotheses 1 and 2 we found that: validation of cultural worldviews reduces PSA (Study 1); low-PSA individuals cared more about their ingroup identity and worldviews and perceived other cultures as more different (Studies 2a-2b); after death primes low-PSA individuals defended their groups' cultural worldview more (Studies 3-4), and liked people from other cultures less (Studies 5-6). Hypothesis 3 was partially supported: PSA was positively correlated to importance of creativity, openness and performance on a creativity task (Studies 7, 9 and 10), but it was not correlated with self-reported or projected need for achievement (Studies 7 and 8), or with creative story writing (Studies 8). Hypothesis 4 was also partially supported: PSA was positively related to trait-anxiety (Study 9), and to levels of death thought accessibility (Study 10), and high-PSA individuals experienced more anxiety after receiving negative feedback about their creativity (Study 10). The implications these findings to the field of social psychology are discussed.

The aim of this study is to investigate how moral issues surrounding one of the lengthiest environmental conflicts – the Canadian seal hunt controversy - were communicated by two Canadian mainstream newspapers: the national Globe and Mail, and the Newfoundland-based The Telegram in 2009, the year in which the European Union banned the import of all seal products on the basis of a moral standard relating to the welfare of animals. At a general level, the purpose of this work is to examine how the news media construe and convey environmental ethical positions when dealing with complicated environmental issues. To this end, this thesis draws from media framing theory to implement a qualitative linguistic analysis of the 99 news articles to analyze how seals and sealers – the two main subjects of moral worth in this controversy – were framed in the two newspapers. The analysis found that seals were predominantly framed in accordance with their perceived social and economic benefit, largely overlooking animal welfare considerations. Sealers, on the other hand, tended to be portrayed as people of moral rectitude and brave seafarers, with a concomitant onus placed on the cultural and economic importance of sealing for Northerners. The findings corroborate claims that our perceptions of animal species, especially those which are considered wildlife, and the type of our relationship with them vary in accordance with human utility. At the same time, these perceptions are influenced by the social and cultural aspects of humans' relationship with the environment that may trump considerations of animal welfare and compassion toward sentient animals. Seen in the perspective of environmental ethics debate, the seal hunt controversy reveals the current lack of consensus on determining the most sound ethical principle in order to ensure our treatment of the environment is morally consistent. As the seal hunt controversy is not a standalone phenomenon of the protest based in animal welfare considerations, this thesis can be of value for the future research of comparable environmental controversies. Reconciling antagonistic environmental ethics is important for environmental policy-making and management, in order to ensure a greater and more productive stakeholder participation in solving environmental issues more effectively, while at the same realizing our moral obligations towards the animal world and the rest of the nature.

No description available.

Domesticated species possess certain cognitive abilities that allow them to thrive in an environment with regular human interaction, and these interactions contribute to the overall human-animal relationship. Studying the human-animal relationship allows us to better understand how domesticated animals perceive and navigate their environment, which can then be used to improve their welfare. In chickens, this relationship is poorly understood, and further research would provide insight into the welfare needs of this animal. Here we show breed differences in the interspecific sociocognitive abilities of Gallus gallus, where the domesticated White Leghorn interacted more with a familiar human than the red junglefowl, and both the domesticated White Leghorn and the red junglefowl breed that had been selected for low fear of humans were habituated to human presence. This study sheds light on the effect of domestication on social cognition in chickens and begins to describe the human-chicken relationship.

As activity levels of intensively managed broiler chicken vary over time, detailed knowledge on their influence is potentially useful to further adjust welfare assessment schemes. Therefore, this study investigated the influence of daytime and age on the performance of broiler chicken in two applied fear tests.On-farm studies were carried out in 14 flocks of intensively managed broiler chicken. A forced and a voluntary approach test were conducted during morning and evening hours and at three different ages (1: 6-12d; 2: 21-24d; 3: prior to slaughter). At each observation, avoidance distances (AD) and the number of animals voluntarily approaching (VA) an observer were collected.No significant correlation was found between daytime and AD or VA. When tested at different ages, daytime and VA were significantly correlated (1: r= 0.56*; 2: r= 0.40*; 3: r= 0.64*), but the results were not consistent. At three weeks the VA was found to be higher in the morning but at younger age and prior to slaughter, more birds approach an observer in the evening. Both, approach and avoidance peaked at three weeks and decreased prior to slaughter. Further, the effect of differing observer locations in the chicken house on the behavioural response of broiler chicken was studied. A higher proportion of birds voluntarily approached an unknown human in the area close to the main entrance door, but the avoidance behaviour was not affected.From the results of this study I conclude, that the time of assessment has no effect on avoidance or approach behaviour of commercial slow-growing broiler chicken. However, fear related behaviour changed depending on age. This makes the applied tests potentially applicable independent of daytime restrictions when performed with birds of the same age.

La relation homme-animal se construit à partir des interactions entre chacun des partenaires qui se transmettent des informations via les signaux sensoriels. Mieux comprendre l’effet de ces interactions passe par la détermination de la sensibilité des animaux aux signaux émis par l’homme. Les interactions vocales entre l’homme et le porc domestique ont été peu étudiées, alors que ce canal est utilisé par l’homme dans les pratiques d’élevage.La thèse a donc cherché à déterminer (1) la sensibilité des porcelets aux variations du signal vocal, (2) les effets de son utilisation dans la mise en place de la relation homme-animal et (3) son utilisation dans la communication référentielle avec l’animal. Les réponses des porcs ont été évaluées (1) dans des tests de discrimination de stimuli vocaux, (2) lors de la mise en place de la relation et de tests de réponse à la présence humaine et (3) lors de tests de choix en présence de signaux humains.Les porcelets se sont révélés sensibles à la voix féminine neutre, sans montrer d’attirance particulière pour cette voix. Néanmoins, une voix féminine aigüe et parlant lentement les a attirés physiquement. Associée à la présence répétée de l’homme, la voix féminine aigüe et lente est associée par l’animal à une valence positive. Les résultats suggèrent que la voix pourrait être impliquée dans la reconnaissance de l’homme par les animaux. Enfin, il est possible d’apprendre aux animaux à utiliser les propriétés référentielles de la voix, mais uniquement lorsqu’elle est combinée à des signaux visuels (pointage du doigt statique et dynamiq / The human-animal relationship is based on the exchange of information via sensorial signals between both partners. Identifying the sensitivity of animals to human signals would help understanding the effect of these interactions. Although auditory interactions are common in breeding practices, vocal interactions between humans and pigs were poorly studied.This thesis studied (1) the sensitivity of piglets to vocal signal variations, (2) the effect of their use during the development of the humPiglets were sensitive to a neutral feminine voice, without showing a specific attraction for it. Nevertheless, a high-pitched feminine voice, slowly speaking attracted them physically. Combined with a repeated human presence, the high-pitched-slow-feminine voice was associated to a positive valence by piglets. Piglets could use the voice to recognize humans, as suggested by our results. Eventually, animals can learn to use the referential property of the voice but only when it is combined to visual referential signals (dynamic and static pointing gestures). Our results offer promising opportunities for the use of human voice while working with animals.

Notre thèse de doctorat approfondit le thème de l’animalité à partir de Merleau-Ponty. La recherche est structurée en trois parties, qui suivent respectivement trois pôles de recherche : sujet-monde-intersubjectivité. La première partie s’interroge sur la possibilité de définir l’animal comme un véritable sujet. La phénoménologie de Merleau-Ponty reformule la notion de subjectivité et nous conduit à une définition de l’animal comme une existence incarnée, ouverte sur le monde et caractérisée par une conduite signifiante. Pourtant, il faudra s’interroger sur le statut d’une telle subjectivité. La deuxième partie de notre travail est consacrée à la notion d’espace. En particulier, nous nous interrogerons sur les espaces animaux, c’est-à-dire sur la notion de milieu. Enfin, le dernier chapitre de cette partie approfondit la différence entre milieu et monde. La troisième et dernière partie de notre travail prend en charge la question de l’intersubjectivité qui s’établit dans la relation entre l’animal et l’homme, dans leur spécificité et dans leur différence. Loin de proposer une sorte d’égalitarisme entre les deux, le véritable défi est de définir une notion de différence qui, d’une part, n’efface pas l’essence spécifique de l’être humain et qui, d’autre part, ne le détache pas de la continuité du monde naturel. Dans ce cadre, l’animal est reconnu selon son être-au-monde spécifique, alors que l’homme se profile comme une nouvelle dimension, sans perdre la parenté avec les autres vivants. / This study examines the notion of animality in relation to the phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It is composed of three parts, which take up three main issues: subject – world – intersubjectivity. The first part explores the possibility of defining animals as subjects. Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology, in fact, has deeply reformulated the notion of subjectivity and led to a definition of animal being as an embodied existence, open to the world and characterised by meaningful conduct. Even so, it will be necessary to question the nature of such subjectivity. The second part of the thesis concerns spatiality, and in particular, the notion of milieu. Lastly, the last chapter elaborates on the difference between milieu and world. The third and final part deepens the intersubjectivity established in the relationship between animal and human being, in their specificity and difference. Far from proposing a kind of egalitarianism between the two, the challenge is to establish a notion of difference which, on the one hand, does not negate the uniqueness of human essence and, on the other, does not separate the human being from the continuity of the natural world. We will see that, in Merleau-Ponty’s approach, the animal being is recognised in accordance to its specific being in the world, while the human being is recognised in a new dimension, without losing its kinship and connection with other living beings.

At the end of the 20th century the issue of so called "dangerous" dog breeds has become increasingly discussed in some European countries. These dogs are considered so threatening that some countries have decided to regulate or restrict their breeding by law. This thesis looks at the articles in Blesk tabloid and Lidové noviny daily newspaper in the years 2001 and 2011 and explores how the dangerous aspect of these breeds was constructed there. Through discourse analysis it investigates the image of "dangerous dogs" presented in these newspapers and what these representations imply. The results of the analysis confirm that all the selected materials explicitly construct the image of dangerous dogs and at the same time implicitly suggest the existence of their "positive" counterparts which helps drawing the line between "good" and "bad" dogs, and hence also between "good" and "bad" owners of the dogs. In all cases, it is apparent that the issue thematised on the level of dog breeds in fact charaterises the relation of man to the animal as well as the society. The representation of the dog witnesses far more about a man than the dog itself. Keywords: dangerous dog, representation, media, human-animal relationship, discourse analysis