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The term human-animal bond (HAB) was used prominently in 1979 in Scotland, but the concept had been articulated by Konrad Lorenz and Boris Levinson earlier. International and national conferences in the 1970s and 1980s and their published proceedings brought wide attention to the HAB, as did media coverage of community animal-assisted activity and therapy programs and service dog training programs. Much of the progress in the HAB can be attributed to veterinary leaders, university centers, conferences, and publications. Other professions were slower to see the value of the HAB. The need for a research base for the field was recognized early by the Delta Society and key individuals. The majority of funding for HAB research, programs, and conferences has come from the pet industry. The HAB field is shifting to a focus on the importance of human-animal interactions to human health and well-being.
Keywords: human-animal bond; history; veterinary medicine
DISCOVERY OF THE HUMAN-ANIMAL BOND (HAB)
One day in the early 1980s, an investment counselor called me on behalf of one of his clients who loved animals. She sought information on a new investment opportunity she had heard about-human-animal bonds. Today such a call would be unlikely because the phrase human-animal bond (HAB) is widely accepted and understood in both the academic and public vocabulary. However, 20 years ago this concept and the field of human-animal interactions existed in the minds of only a few people. Who were they and how did the concept take shape and enter the public consciousness?
On October 28, 1983, Leo K. Bustad, one of the founders of the Delta Society, delivered the summary lecture at the International Symposium on Human-Pet Relationship in Vienna. Dr. Bustad was a pioneer in the field, helped establish its nomenclature, and encouraged others around the world to build on his work to further the human-animal bond. The symposium honored Nobel Laureate Professor Dr. Konrad Lorenz on the occasion of his 80th birthday. In this summary, Dr. Bustad (1983) remarked,
It is only within the last decade that very many people have been talking about this bond. But Konrad Lorenz was writing about it many decades ago. Listen to his perceptive words on this subject: "The wish to keep an animal usually arises from a...