Jay Ingram explores why we love our pets in new book

Ian White gets some insight into the minds of dogs and cats with Jay Ingram, the author of the book The Science of Pets.

The next time you see a cute dog and your heart goes out to it, there’s a scientific reason for it – biophilia – the bond that human beings have with other living things.

“We are, by the way, the only species on Earth that keeps pets. So, there’s something special about the human attraction to having some kind of animal around,” author Jay Ingram told CTV News.

Ingram explores the deep connection between people and animals in his new book, The Science of Pets.

That includes the special relationships people foster with the most popular pets, dogs and cats.

“There’s a brain hormone that gets elevated in both dogs and humans when they look into each other’s eyes. The evidence for cats doing that is not quite as solid. It’s interesting that if a human looks into a wolf’s eyes, the wolf’s brain hormones don’t change,” Ingram said.