The Evolution of Domestication, Part 2

The Evolution of Domestication, Part 2

A recent article in Popular Science (“Why the Heck Do We Have Animals in our Houses?” by Grennan Milliken) talked about the evolution of domesticated animals and the differences between “tame” and “domesticated.” Basically, the difference boils down to biology; tame animals are trained to behave outside of their wild norms, but domesticated animals have had their evolutionary paths altered to suit human needs.

Jean-Denis Vigne, director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, is quoted as describing the transformation from wild to domestic as “a specially strong ecological interaction between humans and the species, subsequently reinforced by human intentionality.”

Milliken translates that as, “What this means is that humans and other animals were often crossing paths and symbiotically building livelihoods around each other – as many species often do in the wild. At some point during these relationships, humans realized the benefits of having these creatures around, and took an active role in keeping them there. Thus the giant gears of domestication began to turn.”

“The giant gears of domestication” turn not just for the domesticated, but also for the domesticator. Well, sort of. There’s no evidence that domesticating cats and dogs affected human genetic make-up, but our relationship to our pets has certainly evolved.

Once upon a time, we kept dogs as guards and assistant hunters, and cats primarily for rodent control. We didn’t necessarily feed them every day and certainly didn’t take them for regular vet visits.

Today, most pets are treated as pampered members of the family. We’ve evolved (albeit not in the evolutionary sense!) to come to understand that when we keep pets, we’re responsible for their safety and well-being.

Or most of us have. 72% of Canadians keep their cats safe from roaming unsupervised, but that means 28% of us don’t. That means millions of cats are needlessly exposed to risk from cars, diseases, fights, toxins and parasites.

They’ve evolved to suit us — it’s time for us to evolve to suit them. Help us reach those holdouts by taking action.