UWindsor conference discussing connection between humans and animals

A growing number of academics are studying the connection between humans and animals and they're meeting at the University of Windsorto talk about it.

This week, people from as far as Australia have gathered for aconferencecalled "Animals and Us: Research, Policy and Practice."

"It really is a growing area of research. The number of publications that are coming out has increased dramatically," saidorganizer Amy Fitzgerald, aprofessor in department of sociology, anthropology and criminology at UWindsor.

"People are increasingly acknowledgingthat we can't stop our analysis of social phenomena at the species line," she added.

The conference kicked off Thursday with a full day dedicated to the intersection of animals and domestic violence, a topic of interest to Fitzgerald, a member of the university's Animal and Interpersonal Abuse Research Group.

"A sizeable proportion of women report that they delay leaving their abuser because they can't take their pets to shelters," Fitzgerald said. "We're trying to get the word that [allowing pets in shelters] is important and also that [it is]feasible."

120 people are registered for the conference, which is sponsored by Hiatus House and the Windsor-Essex County Humane Society, in addition to the University of Windsor.

Other topics on the agenda during the two and a half day conference include animals and the law, animal testing, humane jobs and the relationship between capitalism and animals.