Animals in Our midst: how did pet-keeping evolve? Dr John Bradshaw
Date: 16/03/2018
Room A30, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, LE12 5RD
The University of Nottingham and UFAW University Links programme are hosting Dr John Bradshaw for a free public lecture.
John Bradshaw from University of Bristol, and author of the Sunday Times best-sellers In Defence of Dogs and Cat Sense will speak about:
Today, roughly two-thirds of households include some kind of pet. This habit is no modern affectation, since our hunter-gatherer ancestors seem to have routinely adopted young animals from the wild and raised them alongside their own children. Thus pet-keeping seems to be a part of human nature, but it’s less clear why we did it then, and continue to enjoy doing so today. Is pet-keeping just a mistake, the relatively harmless misdirection of care that should by rights be reserved for our own offspring, or is it an evolved trait that gave our ancestors a crucial advantage at the dawn of agriculture?
Following Dr. Bradshaw’s talk, from 6:00-7:00 pm, there will be a brief reception (from 7:00-7:30 pm) with tea, coffee, juice and snacks. For those who don’t have a copy already, Dr. Bradshaw’s book will be available for purchase (from a stall by Blackwell Scientific publishing), and Dr. Bradshaw will be available to sign books and to speak with members of the audience.