Our Animals Ourselves

Abstract

Although sociology has only recently turned to the study of animals, our society has long recognized their importance, whether asworkers to tow heavy trucks, friends to enjoy and play with, or protein to eat. Human relationships with animals started to change a century ago as technological advances ended our dependence on horses, industrialization of agricultural production replaced backyard farms, and urbanization encroached on the wilderness. Americans had fewer direct encounters with other animals, and those they did have were increasingly with pets or animals in zoos and circuses.