Contents: The power of the animal symbol and its implications; The emergence of modern pet-keeping; Pet-keeping in non-western societies - some popular misconceptions; Health and caring for living things; Attitudes towards animals - origins and diversity; Horses in society; The animal as alter ego - cruelty, altruism and the work of art; Human-animal interactions - a review to American attitudes to wild and domestic animals in the twentieth century; Summation - people, animals and the environment.