Those of us with pets know that it is easy to bond with animals. Some of us go a little further than others with the bonding experience. Like all those celebrities who carry 
While this is thought to be a recent phenomenon by some, Robert K. Anderson, Professor Emeritus and Director of CENSHARE at the University of Minnesota posits that people have always bonded with animals. In fact, he says that before people kept animals as domesticated pets, there was a very special bond that existed between humans and animals. “Even though we understood, or perhaps because we understood the primary role of animals in our lives, we were often in a close relationship that gave us a perspective of our interdependence and the nature of life and death in our ecosystem,” Anderson says.
And while the relationship between humans and animals has changed a lot since the days of farming and agriculture, Anderson says that the human-animal bond is still incredibly powerful. In fact, he encourages people to examine the role that animals play in their lives on all levels and how that should reflect our view of the relationship of people with the world at large. Anderson says, “Think about how your attitudes and beliefs can be transformed into actions that positively affect the human-animal bond and the future of our ecosystem.”