Animals have touched the life of every human. Some of us hunt them, some raise them for food and other products, and some keep them as pets. We may take pleasure from watching birds and other wild animals, and we may struggle to keep some animals, such as mice and rats, away from our houses. Many of us eat them, some use their meat or other body parts medicinally, and we make clothing and other products from their skins and fur. Even if we have little direct contact with animals and use no animal products (surely a very rare occurrence), they provide a rich source of symbolism and metaphor: not only food but also food for thought (Gifford-Gonzalez 2007:10, Lévi-Strauss 1963:89).

The social and symbolic importance of animals stems both from their pervasiveness in our lives and from their animate nature (Digard 1990:220; Galaty and Johnson 1990; Kent 1989). They move and act, are like us and yet different. We value and often admire them, and yet we exploit them. This ambiguity and discomfort permeate human–animal relations. The sense of guilt that is always present to some degree when we kill, confine, and control animals adds to the intensity of our feelings about them (Serpell 1986).