Infantilizing Companion Animals through Attachment Theory: Why Shift to Behavioral Ecology-Based Paradigms for Welfare

Abstract

Attachment theory, proposed in the 1950s to understand the development of parent-child relationships, is often applied to human-pet relationships. I argue the application of this paradigm to test non-human animals’ social bonds with humans infantilizes mature animals and has a detrimental impact on animal welfare. The premise is that ‘Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Test’ is not appropriate to investigate the emotional ties between domestic animals and humans. Instead, I propose an alternative theory, that dogs form mature social bonds with their owners, and that the phenomenon known as ‘separation anxiety’ is the result either of the frustration of mature adult group behaviors, or an over dependency fostered by the owner. Rather than view mature dogs as comparable to human infants in their social relationships, we should perceive them as socially and emotionally mature on reaching adulthood and shift the focus from attachment-based paradigms, to the behavioural ecology and cognition of companion animal species.