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I recently had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Alan Beck, director of Purdue's Center for Human-Animal Bond, established to study the relationship between humans and their pets. (Part of Purdue University's School of Veterinary Medicine.) After 20 years at this post, Dr. Beck is known as the country's foremost authority on pet therapy and, for what it's worth, used to live with a skunk.
While getting his Animal Ecology doctorate at John Hopkins Universtiy, where he studied wolf behavior, a professor remarked to him one day: "Wolves are fine but dogs are more interesting." So, Dr. Beck studied the stray dogs of Baltimore, as if they were wolves - using the same approach. His book, "The Ecology of Stray Dogs: A Study of Free-Ranging Urban Dogs", is a classic in urban ecology. It studies the ecological and public health implications of stray dogs in Baltimore, St. Louis, New York and along the US/Mexico border.
From there, Dr. Beck directed the animal programs for the New York City Department of Health for five years and then directed the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society and the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine for a decade. At Penn, he began collaborating with their psychology program: "The light side of the force as opposed to the dark side of the force."
Beyond his role as researcher, Dr. Beck is also an editor (along with Dr Aaron Katcher, "New Perspective on Our Lives with Companion Animals") and also authored, "Between Pets and People: The Importance of Animal Companionship," again, with Dr. Aaron Katcher. He is also a founding board member of the Delta Society, a non-profit organization focused on improving human health through the use of companion animals.
Honestly, I could have bent Dr, Beck's ear all day long but here are the highlights from our conversation:
Tell me about your work.
Much of my work focuses on people rather than the animals. We spend time watching facial expressions and taking blood pressure measurements. We look at peripheral edges - areas of interaction that are not well appreciated such as hoarding, robotic animals, the affects of fish in people’s lives, horses, dogs and cats. We also study animal bite epidemiology, a study of the pit bull problem.
Pit bulls are illegal in my city - Denver.
Well, you're probably gonna hate me for this but I was a consultant for the city of Denver for that law. We did the analysis and testified for the results.
Most of the shelters I know do not put them down as the law says but transfers them to other counties.
There is a level of irresponsibility to transferring the pit bull to another county.
That's a whole other blog post! Can I call you back to discuss?
Sure, in the meantime, check out dogsbite.org, a non-profit site that keeps track of that issue.
Did you you have animals in your life growing up?
We had no animals, I was typical low-income New Yorker. I grew up dead-center Brooklyn. Although at one time, my mother did have a parakeet for about a year or so.
When I taught high school, one of the parents was leaving town and I inherited a skunk for awhile - fixed to not spray. She was de-scented and her name was Phumes. I'd struck a deal with my roommate at the time; the skunk could live with us but my roommate, Danny, got to name it. And so, he came up with Phumes.
I spent summers as a nature counselor in Connecticut and I'd bring her with me. The kids loved it. So, Phumes had the lower east side in the winter and summered in Connecticut - not a bad life.
What was she like?
She was a delight but very shy. We got robbed a few times and she was no help, she just hid under the couch. She was fine with us and would do anything for Ritz crackers. One summer in Connecticut, during a huge thunderstorm, she took off and we never saw her again.
We did try to breed her - advertised for a male skunk in the Times. I guess that was my first time using newspaper dating .... At the high school, they gave me an unused closet, and we put them together in there. I'm pretty sure she made it with Oliver but never got pregnant. Typical New Yorker, she knew what to do!
