CORVALLIS, Ore. - With more than 70 million pet dogs in the United States, canines have become cherished as family members as well as companions.

The science of the human-canine bond will come under scrutiny at the Corvallis Science Pub on September 11. Science Pub begins at 6 p.m.  in the Old World Deli, 341 2nd St. in Corvallis and is free and open to the public.

"From search and rescue, to aids in therapeutic interventions, we often place considerable trust in these animals," said Monique Udell, science pub speaker and an assistant professor in the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences at Oregon State University. "However, the majority of the world's dogs are not pets, but are scavengers living on the fringes of human society. Here too they thrive, sharing a very different but equally critical relationship with humans."

Udell directs the Human-Animal Interactions Lab at Oregon State and teaches courses on animal behavior, cognition and learning.

Podcasts of previous Corvallis Science Pub events on topics such as marijuana metabolism, foreign relations and soft robotics are available at http://communications.oregonstate.edu/podcast.

Sponsors of Science Pub include Terra magazine at OSU, the Downtown Corvallis Association and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

Source: 

Monique Udell, [email protected], 541-737-9154

    

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