Pet Histories and Wellbeing

Lead Research Organisation: Royal Holloway University of London
Department Name: History

Abstract

The Pet Histories and Wellbeing Project will develop research from the AHRC Pets and Family Life Project in the context of debates on the wellbeing of pets and their owners, in collaboration with the Museum of the Home and the charity Blue Cross. The Museum of the Home is the only national museum to explore the idea of the home in critical depth. The Blue Cross is a national charity that helps sick, injured, abandoned and homeless pets and offers advice and education for current or future pet owners and pet bereavement and support. In 2021 the museum will stage a temporary exhibition on the history of pets - funding is sought for a linked project that will bring the partners together to explore pets and wellbeing in the past and present. The collaboration will produce creative outputs and public engagement activities that will sit alongside the exhibition, and some permanent outputs.

Pets are an important part of Britain's society, culture and economy. In 2019 a UK Gov and PDSA report estimated that 50% of UK adults owned a pet. Pets are part of family life, but they are also an important part of the British economy. In 2019, the store Pets at Home reported half-year pre-tax profits of £45 million. Meanwhile, mental health awareness is unprecedented both in terms of people accessing services and public dialogue. It is estimated that approximately one in four people in the UK will suffer a mental health problem each year and that mental health problems are the largest single cause of disability in the UK.

Recent research has demonstrated a strong link between pet animals and human wellbeing. A 2019 Blue Cross Report found that pets can help people with mental health conditions by offering love and company, increased social interaction, motivation, exercise and distraction. During 2020-2021 Blue Cross will run a campaign to raise awareness amongst the public and policy makers of the potential role of pets in contributing to wellbeing. MoTH is running a Wellbeing Season from 2020 which the project will link to. The capacity of pets to forge strong emotional attachments with their guardians is also a major theme of the Pets and Family Life Project - while species popularity, pet keeping practices and cultural framing changed over time, there was significant long-term continuity in emotional investment in animals. The historical research strongly supports the contention that pets can make a significant contribution to individual wellbeing.

Historical interpretation and archival materials will be developed to provide the creative basis for a series of activities and outputs including: a film exploring the relationship between pets people with mental health conditions in the past and present; an immersive environment recreating the presence of animals in the home; a debate forum exploring the wellbeing of both owners and pets in contemporary and historic perspectives; an interpretation plan for the exhibition designed to raise awareness of animal welfare; a self-guided tour for schools; summer holiday reading groups with dogs for children; historic birding tours of the local area and a pop-up pet bereavement café. The historians will also work with the museum on raising the profile of animals in the permanent collections, and some outputs will be available for longer term use.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Title Pet Life 
Description produce 'Pet Life' an immersive exhibition that ran at the museum from July to October 2021 alongside a programme of events that took place in the summer holidays and half term. Pet Life featured the dramatization and animation of four 'pet' stories - Roughie the terrier, Bob the starling, Wednesday the cat and Leon the rabbit - developed from historical material from the Pets and Family Life Project, the MoTH collections and a call out for contemporary stories. Children selected a cuddly pet avatar and activated sounds and animations that told the story of their pet as they progressed around the exhibition. The interactives were displayed alongside a static exhibition of texts and historic photos showing pet keeping from the nineteenth century among diverse social groups. Children also engaged with a series of hands on activities on different aspects of pet care (developed with advice from Blue Cross), including feeding and grooming pets. The exhibition was an immersive environment and allowed for the entry of one or two family groups in a single period. 
Type Of Art Artistic/Creative Exhibition 
Year Produced 2021 
Impact The exhibition was the first immersive environment that has run at the MoTH and the first exhibition designed specifically for families with small children for many years. 933 adults and 857 children were admitted to the exhibition. Four private views were held including one for Hackney Ark (charity working with young people with special needs) (16th August 10 attendees) and an Autism Friendly private view (17th August 15 attendees). The exhibition was featured on London Live (TV), BBC London (Radio) and CBBC Newsround (TV) and the Pet Bereavement Café featured in the The Guardian's promotional supplement the modern family. 
 
Title Pets: Love, Loss and Healing 
Description Blue Cross worked with RHUL and MoTH to create a film - Pets: Love, Loss and Healing - which explored people's emotional connections to their pets, how they document their relationships through self-archiving, and the transformative process of pet bereavement. The film was produced by Belle Vue Productions, was designed in consultation with BC and the final cut was edited on their advice. This 12-minute film focused on three pet-owner case studies to examine how human-animals relationships support human wellbeing in dealing with social isolation, poor physical health and addiction. The film highlighted the strong emotional bonds humans form with animals. 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2021 
Impact The film is regularly used as a learning tool as part of events organised by the Pet Bereavement Network led by Prof JM Strange and Diane James from Blue Cross Pet Bereavement Support Services. Blue Cross are also using it for training and supporting Blue Cross volunteers. Strange and James collaborated closely with the filmmakers in selecting the case studies, organising the storyline and producing the final cut of the film. Feedback from the public and practitioners suggests that the film 'moving', 'uplifting' and demonstrates the 'important role of animals in our lives'. 
URL https://bellevueproductions.co.uk/pets-love-loss-and-healing
 
Description Partnership with Museum of the Home and 'Pet Life' Immersive Exhibition and Events Programme Pet Life Exhibition We worked with MoTH to produce 'Pet Life' an immersive exhibition that ran at the museum from July to October 2021 alongside a programme of events that took place in the summer holidays and half term. Pet Life featured the dramatization and animation of four 'pet' stories - Roughie the terrier, Bob the starling, Wednesday the cat and Leon the rabbit - developed from historical material from the Pets and Family Life Project, the MoTH collections and a call out for contemporary stories. Children selected a cuddly pet avatar and activated sounds and animations that told the story of their pet as they progressed around the exhibition. The interactives were displayed alongside a static exhibition of texts and historic photos showing pet keeping from the nineteenth century among diverse social groups. Children also engaged with a series of hands on activities on different aspects of pet care (developed with advice from Blue Cross), including feeding and grooming pets. The exhibition was an immersive environment and allowed for the entry of one or two family groups in a single period. It is the first immersive environment that has run at the MoTH and the first exhibition designed specifically for families with small children for many years. 933 adults and 857 children were admitted to the exhibition. Four private views were held including one for Hackney Ark (charity working with young people with special needs) (16th August 10 attendees) and an Autism Friendly private view (17th August 15 attendees). The exhibition was featured on London Live (TV), BBC London (Radio) and CBBC Newsround (TV) and the Pet Bereavement Café featured in the The Guardian's promotional supplement the modern family. Family Activities MoTH ran a programme of family activities on Pet Life in July and August 2021 to coincide with the summer holidays. These included a Spot the Animal Trail for family explorers aged 2+ that took place across the home galleries. 800 children took part from 8 August to 30th August. There were a series of storytelling sessions Comforting Creatures with the storyteller Olivia Armstrong on 8, 15 and 29 August, exploring folktales and the relationship between animals and humans, for ages 2+. This was accompanied by a craft activity Pet's Get Together! for children aged 4+ which allowed children to make their own pets and write a care label explaining how to look after them, which ran on August 8, 15 and 29. On August 15 the museum hosted the Hunt and Darton Dog Show in collaboration with the creative live artists Jenny Hunt and Holly Darton, which allowed visitors to bring in their own dogs for an informal 'show' including prizes for best dressed dog and the dog that looked most like it's owner. On August 29 the museum ran a hands on session with animal handlers Get to Know Animals, The Mobile Zoo, for children aged 4+ which allowed children to handle a range of animals including reptiles and exotics. Attendance at the Pet Life Family Days was as follows: 8/8/2021 52 (storytelling & craft activity); 15/8/2021 123 (Dog show & craft activity); 23/8/2021 105 (storytelling & craft activity); 30/8/2021 130 (storytelling & animal handling). MoTH collected data through July and August 2021 to evaluate the engagement with the families activities organised alongside the Pet Life exhibition. Whilst the sample remains small with 35 adults completing the survey, some trends emerge to help us understand the audience distribution and satisfaction with our family offer. From this sample, we can conclude that Pet Life and the family activities offer catered for smaller families with young children living in the local area. 38.5% of visitors had not been to the museum before, 77% were accompanied by children under six and the vast majority of visitors came from London with 38% from Hackney and 25% from Tower Hamlets. MoTH also ran a series of events for adults in partnership with Blue Cross: • Home Truths: Wellbeing and Pet Keeping, 16 September (online event). This event explored the relationship between animal and human wellbeing, how pets can contribute to human wellbeing but also the Tickets booked: 19, we engaged with 4 panellists - Jen Berezai from AdvoCATS, Dr Julie-Marie Strange, Rob and Donna from Get to Know Animals, Alison Skipper • Pet Bereavement Café 19th September 3 people attended the café with 10 others writing memory tags and many other visitors engaged in conversation as they walked by Birds and Us MoTH and RHUL collaborated with London birder to Matthew Cunningham to explore how the relationship between birds and Londoners has changed since the nineteenth century - including alternations in habitats and resident species. On October 29th Dr. Steph Howard-Smith (Project Public Engagement Officer) and Matthew Cunningham (London birder) ran two interactive talks at the museum titled 'Birds and Us: How Londoners connected with birds'. 25 attendees. Partnership with Blue Cross and Pets: Love, Loss and Healing Film Blue Cross worked with RHUL and MoTH to develop the interactive exhibition and events programme - BC were consulted on the design and content of the exhibition, and the educational activities for children. Blue Cross also worked with RHUL and MoTH to create a film - Pets: Love, Loss and Healing - which explored people's emotional connections to their pets, how they document their relationships through self-archiving, and the transformative process of pet bereavement. The film was produced by Belle Vue Productions, was designed in consultation with BC and the final cut was edited on their advice. The film is regularly used as a learning tool as part of events organised by the Pet Bereavement Network led by Prof JM Strange and Diane James from Blue Cross Pet Bereavement Support Services. Blue Cross are also using it for training and supporting Blue Cross volunteers. This 12-minute film focused on three pet-owner case studies to examine how human-animals relationships support human wellbeing in dealing with social isolation, poor physical health and addiction. The film highlighted the strong emotional bonds humans form with animals. Strange and James collaborated closely with the filmmakers in selecting the case studies, organising the storyline and producing the final cut of the film. Feedback from the public and practitioners suggests that the film 'moving', 'uplifting' and demonstrates the 'important role of animals in our lives'. https://bellevueproductions.co.uk/pets-love-loss-and-healing Partnership with Surrey History Centre and web resource As Covid made the proposed event with SHC difficult to achieve, instead we worked with the centre to create a permanent online resource. We worked with SHC to produce a new section for their 'Exploring Surrey's Past' website - 'Pets in the Archives'. The section presents an overview of the key finds from the project concerning changes over time in pet keeping and explores case study archival evidence from SHC in depth. https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/subjects/pets-in-the-archives/
First Year Of Impact 2021
Sector Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other
Impact Types Cultural

Societal

 
Description Collaboration with Surrey History Centre 
Organisation Surrey History Centre
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution RHUL created a narrative and webpages on pet history using materials from Surrey History Centre.
Collaborator Contribution SHC supported our research and developed the webpages as a new section for their Exploring Surrey's Past website.
Impact Pets in the Archives - section for SHC website Exploring Surrey's Past.
Start Year 2021
 
Description Partnership with Blue Cross 
Organisation Blue Cross UK
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution RHUL worked with Blue Cross to develop a film based on themes from the pets research project and on the creation of an exhibition and events programme with MoTH.
Collaborator Contribution Blue Cross worked with us to design and edit the film and provided feedback on the design of the exhibition and engagement activities.
Impact Film, exhibition and engagement programme (see outputs).
Start Year 2021
 
Description Partnership with Museum of the Home 
Organisation The Geffrye Museum of the Home
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution RHUL worked with MoTH and Blue Cross to produce an exhibition, film and programme of public engagement events.
Collaborator Contribution MoTH hosted the exhibition and public engagement activities for the project (see outputs).
Impact Exhibition and public engagement programme (see outputs).
Start Year 2021
 
Description Activity Trail for Children - Spot the Animal Trail 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Spot the Animal Trail for family explorers aged 2+ that took place across the home galleries at Museum of the Home. 800 children took part from 8 August to 30th August.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Article for History Today - Whose Afraid of the Dog Banditti? 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Dr Steph Howard Smith, the project engagement officer, wrote an article on dog stealing 'Whose Afraid of the Dog-Banditti?' for the popular history magazine History Today. The article was published on 3 June 2021.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.historytoday.com/miscellanies/whos-afraid-dog-banditti
 
Description Birds and Us: How Londoners Connected with Birds 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact MoTH and RHUL collaborated with London birder to Matthew Cunningham to explore how the relationship between birds and Londoners has changed since the nineteenth century - including alternations in habitats and resident species. On October 29th Dr. Steph Howard-Smith (Project Public Engagement Officer) and Matthew Cunningham (London birder) ran two interactive talks at the museum titled 'Birds and Us: How Londoners connected with birds'. 25 attendees.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description CBBC Newsround feature on Pet Life Exhibition 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact On 29 Sept 2021 the Pet Life exhibition featured in a video on the CBBC Newsround website.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/58652419
 
Description Family Activities - Comforting Creatures and Pets Get Together 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact As a part of the public engagement programme there were a series of storytelling sessions Comforting Creatures with the storyteller Olivia Armstrong on 8, 15 and 29 August, exploring folktales and the relationship between animals and humans, for ages 2+. This was accompanied by a craft activity Pet's Get Together! for children aged 4+ which allowed children to make their own pets and write a care label explaining how to look after them, which ran on August 8, 15 and 29.

Attendance at the Pet Life Family Days was as follows: 8/8/2021 52 (storytelling & craft activity); 15/8/2021 123 (Dog show & craft activity); 23/8/2021 105 (storytelling & craft activity); 30/8/2021 130 (storytelling & animal handling). MoTH collected data through July and August 2021 to evaluate the engagement with the families activities organised alongside the Pet Life exhibition. Whilst the sample remains small with 35 adults completing the survey, some trends emerge to help us understand the audience distribution and satisfaction with our family offer. From this sample, we can conclude that Pet Life and the family activities offer catered for smaller families with young children living in the local area. 38.5% of visitors had not been to the museum before, 77% were accompanied by children under six and the vast majority of visitors came from London with 38% from Hackney and 25% from Tower Hamlets.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Hunt and Darton Dog Show 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact On August 15 the museum hosted the Hunt and Darton Dog Show in collaboration with the creative live artists Jenny Hunt and Holly Darton, which allowed visitors to bring in their own dogs for an informal 'show' including prizes for best dressed dog and the dog that looked most like it's owner. 123 atttended.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Online Discussion Forum - Home Truths: Wellbeing and Pet Keeping 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact 16 September (online event). This event explored the relationship between animal and human wellbeing, how pets can contribute to human wellbeing but also the Tickets booked: 19, we engaged with 4 panellists - Jen Berezai from AdvoCATS, Dr Julie-Marie Strange, Rob and Donna from Get to Know Animals, Alison Skipper (vet and dog historian).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Pet Bereavement Cafe 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact 19th September 2021 3 people attended the café with 10 others writing memory tags and many other visitors engaged in conversation as they walked by.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Pets in the Archives - section for Exploring Surrey's Past 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact We worked with SHC to produce a new section for their 'Exploring Surrey's Past' website - 'Pets in the Archives'. The section presents an overview of the key finds from the project concerning changes over time in pet keeping and explores case study archival evidence from SHC in depth.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021,2022
URL https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/subjects/pets-in-the-archives/
 
Description The Mobile Zoo 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact On August 29 the museum ran a hands on session with animal handlers Get to Know Animals, The Mobile Zoo, for children aged 4+ which allowed children to handle a range of animals including reptiles and exotics.130 attended.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021