People and Pets: Factors Affecting the Acquisition, Characteristics and Relinquishment of Companion Animal Relationships
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Human-Animal Interactions, Animal Behaviour and Emotion".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2024 | Viewed by 2242
Special Issue Editors
Interests: animal psychology; personality; human-animal interactions; pets
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Pet ownership is the most common form of human–animal interaction (HAI), and is prevalent worldwide. Pets can improve the mental and physical health of humans, providing comfort, safety, routine, structure and help with social inclusion. In the UK, the RSPCA takes in thousands of pets each year and, of those adopted, up to 20% are returned to shelters, which can be stressful for both the animal and the owner. Reasons to return a pet include the owner’s health and unrealistic expectations of ownership duties. Wider social environments may also influence the adoption and return of pets to animal shelters. For instance, during the Coronavirus pandemic, interest in pet ownership increased during lockdowns and was sustained for some once restrictions were lifted, but not for all types of pets. As our climate continues to change and the cost-of-living crisis escalates, the importance of research into crisis-driven changes in human–animal relationships increases. This Special Issue will give an overview of the most recent research in this area and provide an impetus to move the field on through an implementation of interventions to optimize compatibility and reduce negative outcomes for both people and pets.
Dr. Lindsay Murray
Dr. Janine Carroll
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- human–animal interactions
- companion animals
- pets
- dogs
- cats
- characteristics
- health
- COVID-19 pandemic
- cost of living
- adoption
- relinquishment
- relationships
