Experts join forces for an international dialogue on the human-animal link

Friday, July 2, 2021

Registration is now available for the 2021 Centers for the Human-Animal Bond conference hosted by the Purdue University Center for the Human-Animal Bond. The virtual conference scheduled for November 4-5 will bring together a diverse set of national and international academic centers and institutes of human-animal interaction for a global, interdisciplinary conversation focused on advancements in this field.

The Centers for the Human-Animal Bond (CHAB) conference was first hosted in 2006, and in 2016, a 10-year follow-up conference continued the conversation. These two previous conferences have resulted in special issues in peer-reviewed journals (2008 in JVME and 2018 in HAIB), and this year’s conference will seek to continue this legacy.

The CHAB 2021 conference will provide a crucial opportunity to bring together a diverse set of national and international academic centers and institutes of human-animal interaction. Discussing the importance of the conference, Purdue Associate Professor of Veterinary Medicine of Human-Animal Interaction, Maggie O’Haire, said: Animal-Assisted Interventions and Additional Dimensions of the Human-Animal Bond. Dr O’Haire went on to say that periodic and structured dialogue and coordination by multidisciplinary and geographically diverse human-animal interaction centers is essential to accelerate the advancement of the field and collaboration between disciplines, leading to a better understanding of physiology, psychological and cultural implications of the human-animal bond.

The first day of the conference is free and open to the public and will include a plenary speaker and a roundtable in the morning, a ‘lunch and learn’ with the center directors during the lunch hour, followed by another roundtable and speaker in the afternoon. During the luncheon, representatives of world-class centers and institutions from around the world will provide insight into their organization and the work they do. Registrations for November 4 are currently available. Click here to sign up.

The second day of the conference will consist of closed sessions for guest leaders in the field of human-animal interaction.

The conference is able to offer one day with free registration open to the public thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Human-Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) and Mars Petcare. Additional support for the conference is provided by the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine and the University Provost’s Office.

Click here to learn more about the 2021 Centers for the Human-Animal Bond Conference.

Writers):
Ben Shepard | [email protected]