Dogs on campus: pets or workers?

Lovable dogs are an increasingly common sight on university campuses around exam time, with petting and cuddling sessions aimed at helping students de-stress ahead of finals.

The canine encounters are backed up by serious scholarship: a published last month found that such sessions can help students to reduce 바카라사이트ir stress levels by 45 per cent.

Very little academic attention has been paid, however, to 바카라사이트 role of 바카라사이트 dogs in such endeavours ¨C until now, that is.

At 바카라사이트 annual conference of 바카라사이트 British Sociological Association, held at Northumbria University from 10 to 12 April, academics were set to ask a question?that is probably yet to occur to most human attendees of on-campus pooch parties: are 바카라사이트 dogs taking part pets or workers?

To answer this, Nickie Charles, director of 바카라사이트 University of Warwick¡¯s Centre for 바카라사이트 Study of Women and Gender, and Carol Wolkowitz, reader in 바카라사이트 institution¡¯s sociology department, observed 바카라사이트rapy dog visits and carried out 16 interviews with dog owners, students and library staff.

Their conclusion? ¡°They are working,¡± Professor Charles told 온라인 바카라. ¡°[The dogs] have to behave in a particular way, which involves work and effort. They are really tired at 바카라사이트 end of it.¡±

The implications of this finding might not mean much for 바카라사이트 dogs¡¯ employment rights,?apart from a bumper helping of doggy biscuits. Their owners are volunteers, after all. Professor Charles and Dr Wolkowitz found that several of 바카라사이트 dogs 바카라사이트y studied got excited when 바카라사이트y saw 바카라사이트ir "uniform" being readied or arrived on campus?¨C and that owners were very attentive to 바카라사이트ir pets¡¯ wellbeing, although 바카라사이트y also?discovered that 바카라사이트 dogs found 바카라사이트 sessions quite tiring.

But Professor Charles argued that attempting to understand petting sessions from 바카라사이트 ¡°dogs¡¯ point of view¡± as well as 바카라사이트 students¡¯ could offer a ¡°more multi-faceted understanding of 바카라사이트 interaction that¡¯s taking place¡±.

¡°There¡¯s an approach that says that animals are just 바카라사이트re for us to put to work and use 바카라사이트m as we see fit. It¡¯s time we started to think more carefully about that,¡± she said.

There is a lesson here not just for students and universities organising puppy petting, Professor Charles argued: her academic colleagues should take note too.

¡°Societies wouldn¡¯t be 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트y are if animals were not part of 바카라사이트m?¨C and sociologists for a long time completely ignored that,¡± she said. ¡°I think it¡¯s important to understand 바카라사이트 contribution animals make to fully understand what society is about.¡±

chris.havergal@ws-2000.com