Humanity’s Best Friend: A Dog-Centric Approach to Addressing Global Challenges
by
Naomi Sykes 1
, Piers Beirne 2, Alexandra Horowitz 3, Ione Jones 4, Linda Kalof 5, Elinor Karlsson 6,7, Tammie King 8, Howard Litwak 9, Robbie A. McDonald 10, Luke John Murphy 11, Neil Pemberton 12, Daniel Promislow 13, Andrew Rowan 14, Peter W. Stahl 15, Jamshid Tehrani 16, Eric Tourigny 17, Clive D. L. Wynne 18, Eric Strauss 19 and Greger Larson 20,*
Naomi Sykes 1, Piers Beirne 2, Alexandra Horowitz 3, Ione Jones 4, Linda Kalof 5, Elinor Karlsson 6,7, Tammie King 8, Howard Litwak 9, Robbie A. McDonald 10, Luke John Murphy 11, Neil Pemberton 12, Daniel Promislow 13, Andrew Rowan 14, Peter W. Stahl 15, Jamshid Tehrani 16, Eric Tourigny 17, Clive D. L. Wynne 18, Eric Strauss 19 and Greger Larson 20,*
1
Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Exeter, Devon EX4 4QE, UK
2
Department of Criminology, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME 04104, USA
3
Department of Psychology, Barnard College, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, USA
4
Department of Math and Sciences, Exeter College, Exeter EX4 4HF, UK
5
Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
6
Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
7
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
8
WALTHAM Petcare Science Institute, Waltham on the Wolds LE14 4RT, UK
9
Annenberg PetSpace Foundation, 12005 Bluff Creek Dr, Playa Vista, CA 90094, USA
10
Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
11
Department of Archaeology, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavík, Iceland
12
Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM), University of Manchester, Oxford Rd, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
13
Department of Biology and Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
14
Wellbeing International, 9812 Falls Road #114-288, Potomac, MD 20854-3963, USA
15
Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada
16
Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham DH1 1LE, UK
17
School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
18
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Box 871104, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
19
LMU Center for Urban Resilience, Loyola Marymount University, LMU Drive Los Angeles, CA 90045-2659, USA
20
Palaeogenomics & Bio-Archaeology Research Network, School of Archaeology, 1 South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3TG, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2020, 10(3), 502; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10030502
Received: 24 December 2019 / Revised: 4 March 2020 / Accepted: 7 March 2020 / Published: 17 March 2020
(This article belongs to the Section Human-Animals Interactions, Animal Behaviour and Emotion)
Simple Summary
The Earth is under increasing pressure from the burgeoning global human population and the subsequent rise in demand for food and a myriad of other finite resources. Mitigating the environmental, societal and ecological impact of the human footprint requires understanding the long-term relationships between our species and the plants and animals we now rely upon. In addition, the modern scientific approach often conceives of, and addresses individual problems through narrow windows that can fail to take into account the connectedness of multiple problems. By broadening the scope of inquiry to include both science and humanities perspectives, and simultaneously focussing on a single species, we suggest that many of the United Nations Strategic Development Goals (SDGs) can be addressed more effectively. In this paper, we describe how a comprehensive assessment of the long-term relationship between humans and dogs can yield insights, and offer ways in which modern global challenges can be tackled.
No other animal has a closer mutualistic relationship with humans than the dog (Canis familiaris). Domesticated from the Eurasian grey wolf (Canis lupus), dogs have evolved alongside humans over millennia in a relationship that has transformed dogs and the environments in which humans and dogs have co-inhabited. The story of the dog is the story of recent humanity, in all its biological and cultural complexity. By exploring human-dog-environment interactions throughout time and space, it is possible not only to understand vital elements of global history, but also to critically assess our present-day relationship with the natural world, and to begin to mitigate future global challenges. In this paper, co-authored by researchers from across the natural and social sciences, arts and humanities, we argue that a dog-centric approach provides a new model for future academic enquiry and engagement with both the public and the global environmental agenda.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Sykes, N.; Beirne, P.; Horowitz, A.; Jones, I.; Kalof, L.; Karlsson, E.; King, T.; Litwak, H.; McDonald, R.A.; Murphy, L.J.; Pemberton, N.; Promislow, D.; Rowan, A.; Stahl, P.W.; Tehrani, J.; Tourigny, E.; Wynne, C.D.L.; Strauss, E.; Larson, G. Humanity’s Best Friend: A Dog-Centric Approach to Addressing Global Challenges. Animals 2020, 10, 502.
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