Archive

A herd of elephants came to the rescue of a baby elephant on a busy road in Kruger National Park in South Africa yesterday.  The story made international news with adorable footage.  The deep bonds elephants share have long been recognized, and this incident confirms they are willing to protect and assist one another. Why are […]

Simply considered, empathy describes a person’s capacity to sense and imagine how others feel.  Empathy is central to developing moral reasoning skills and contributes to one’s capacity for moral understanding.  As such, empathy is at the center of many new studies on compassion for its value as a basic “building block of morality.” Empathy: a building block […]

Historically, animal abuse and human abuse have been handles in separate spheres, with various professional groups in social services or animal control working independently with little collaboration.  Yet, violence is about power.  Whether the target is a human or an animal, intentional harm of any vulnerable population is emblematic of multiple risks.  Recognizing the overlap […]

New research confirms something that may be unsurprising to the avid dog lover:  bonding with furry best friends is a two-way street.  How?  Eye contact. The study shows that returning Fido’s hopeful gaze is comparable to gazing into the eyes of a newborn, which releases the hormone oxytocin.  Known as one of the “happy hormones” […]

Animal rescue groups largely function independently at the  community level.  The animal rescue movement has no national tracking standards in place, so it can be challenging to calculate how many unwanted animals are part of the shelter system. However, looking at the real numbers makes an important case for searching shelters for furry additions.   ASPCA and […]