Given that we live in a digital age, many people in society have not experienced human-animal interactions and the benefits such interactions and bonds can bring.

The benefits of such interactions deepen our understanding and appreciation of nature.

In this digital age, this bond cannot be allowed to diminish to the extent whereby a person’s interaction with certain companion animals occurs at the virtual rather than physical level.

This situation could worsen if the number and variety of companion animals is reduced within our society with a reduced lack of care for or engagement with wider environmental issues over time.