FIREPAW research
FIREPAW research
Research
The Foundation for Interdisciplinary Research and Education
Promoting Animal Welfare

Academic/Professional Conferences & Seminars
“Ethics and World Trade” Izmir/SUNY-Cortland International Conference on Globalization and Its Discontents., June 7th—9th, 2007, Cortland, New York.
Who is a "terrorist?" Language and the case of domestic "terrorism," The Language of Violence: Thinking Critically About War and Peace, PEACE Studies Conference, November 18, 2006, State University of New York (SUNY-Cortland), Cortland, New York.
“The Social Psychology of Partnering to Help Animals,” workshop presenter/speaker at the American Humane Association (AHA) Conference, Sept -Oct., 2006, Schaumburg, Illinois.
“Companion Animal Renters: Dispelling the Myths,” Scheduled speaker at The Healing Power of the Human-Animal Bond: Companion Animals & Society Conference, PAWS-San Francisco & PAWS-Los Angeles, June, 2005, Los Angeles, California
(For a link to the topic, see the Research Publications segment)
“The Guardian vs. Owner Study: Differing Styles with Pets,” Submission for the American Sociological Association (ASA) Conference, Animals & Society Session, August, 2005, Philadelphia, PA
(For a link to the topic, see the Research Publications segment)
”Making Economic Arguments for Animals”, with Jennifer Fearing and Don Garlit, Taking Action for Animals Conference, August, 2005, Washington DC.
“An Analysis of Breed Discrimination of Domesticated Dogs among Insurance Companies,” American Sociological Association (ASA) Conference, Animals & Society Session, August, 2005, Philadelphia, PA
(For a link to the topic, see the Works in Progress segment)
“The Role of the ALF as Information Providers.” Animal Liberation Conference, April 2004, Syracuse, New York.
(For a link to the topic, see the Research Publications segment)
“Companion Animals as Scapegoats, Property, and Victims of Abuse in Violent Homes”, Linking Violence: An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Relationship Between Violence Against Animals and Humans, University College of Cape Breton, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, May, 2004, Sydney, Nova Scotia
(For a link to the topic, see the Research Publications segment)
“Selective Battering of the Family Pet”, Linking Violence: An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Relationship Between Violence Against Animals and Humans, University College of Cape Breton, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, May, 2004, Sydney, Nova Scotia
(For a link to the topic, see the Research Publications segment)
“Companion Animals at Risk: Violent Family Members’ Attitudes, Perceptions and Treatment of the Family Pet”, American Sociological Association 2004 Conference, Animals & Society Section, August, San Francisco, California.
(For a link to the topic, see the Research Publications segment)
“Attitudes toward Companion Animal Adoption and Contextual Factors Relating to Abandonment”, American Sociological Association 2003 Conference, Animals & Society Section, August, Atlanta, GA. CLICK HERE
“Progress in Efforts to Reach a ‘No-Kill’ Nation”, American Sociological Association 2003 Conference, Animals & Society Section, August, Atlanta, GA. CLICK HERE
“The Housing Market for Renters with Companion Animals: Are Markets Efficient? ” United States Society for Ecological Economics (USSEE) 2003 Conference, May, Saratoga Springs, NY.
(For a link to the topic, see the Research Publications segment)
“Animals in Economics”, United States Society for Ecological Economics (USSEE) 2003 Conference, May, Saratoga Springs, NY.
“If They Aren’t Communicating, You’re Not Listening”, Animal Rights 2002 National Conference, Washington, D.C. July, 2002.
“Love them, Kill-them: Mixed Messages and Our Conflicting Relationships with Animals,” Animal Rights 2002 National Conference, Washington, D.C. July, 2002.
“Killing our Companions,” Animal Rights 2002 National Conference, Washington, D.C. July, 2002.
“Helping Animal by Getting through to Business,” Animal Rights 2002 National Conference, Washington, D.C. July, 2002.
"Companion Animals: What they do for us, What we can do for them", Schenectady Public Library Series, Schenectady, New York, October, 2002.
“Interdisciplinary Research in Economics: Companion Animal Dynamics and Welfare and the Evolution of Economic Ideas.” Working Boundaries Conference, February, 2001.
“Conflicting Attitudes and Social Dissonance: Why Mixed Messages Lead People to Abuse and Abandon Their Companion Animals”, at the Society for the Study of Social Problems Conference on Diversity and Rights: Confronting Anthropocentric Definitions of Community Conference, Anaheim, California, August, 2001. CLICK HERE
Speaking Engagements and Appearances
SACC-TV-July, 2003. Prime-time special, “Pets & Singles”.
Schenectady Today Show-June, 2003. Live Television Feature Interview on FIREPAW projects & helping animals
"Conflicting Attitudes & Social Dissonance: The Secret Social Agreement that Leads to Animal Abuse & Abandonment" seminar presented January, 2002, FIREPAW, Albany, NY.
"Why People Don't Adopt,” seminar presented January, 2002, FIREPAW, Albany, NY.
“A Profile of Why People Don't Spay/Neuter,” seminar presented June, 2002, FIREPAW, Albany, NY. CLICK HERE
WMHT-TV-February 2002. PBS lengthy feature interview regarding FIREPAW programs and animal issues.
“Companion Animals…What they do for us and what we can do for them,” October, 2002, Schenectady Public Library, Schenectady, NY.
WTEN-TV-December, 2002 “Pets as Gifts for the Holidays”, Nightly News Interview Feature.
“What Can I Do to Help Animals?" seminar presented December 2001, FIREPAW, Albany, NY.
“Animal Welfare vs. Animal Rights: Finding Common Ground”, seminar presented November, 2001, FIREPAW, Albany, NY.
WRGB-TV-September 2001 Evening news interview regarding the establishment of FIREPAW and FIREPAW programs.
WTEN-TV-July 2001 Prime-time special featured an interview regarding companion animal overpopulation (with Pet Connection’s Steve Caparizzo).
Research Publications
(2008). Is there an animal welfare Kuznets Curve? Journal of Ecological Economics, 66: 478-491.
(2007). Discrimination based on breed of domesticated dogs among insurance companies: Economic vs. interdisciplinary explanations. Journal of Social and Ecological Boundaries, (2.2), 56-84.
To read this article click here.
(2007). Analysis of programs to reduce overpopulation of companion animals: do adoption and low-cost spay/neuter programs merely cause substitution of sources? Journal of Ecological Economics, 62: 740-746.
(2007). Meat as a bad habit: A case for positive feedback in consumption preferences leading to lock-in. Review of Social Economy, 65 (3): 319-348.
Silent Victims: Recognizing & Stopping Abuse of the Family Pet. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, University Press, 2006.
Click here to learn more about this book and/or order a copy.
(2006). "Owners, guardians, and owner-guardians: Differing relationships with pets." Anthrozoös, 19 (3), 225-242.
(2005). “Companion Animal Renters and Pet-Friendly Housing in the U.S. Anthrozoos, 18 (1), 59-77.
(2005). Technological lock-in, positive institutional feedback, and research on laboratory animals, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 16(4), 557-575.
(2005). Process attributes of goods, ethical considerations, and implications for animal products. Ecological Economics, in Press.
(2004). “Selective Battering of the Family Pet.” Anthrozoös 17 (1), 26-41.
(2004). “Companion Animals as Scapegoats, Property, and Victims of Abuse in Violent Homes,” In Linking Violence: An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Relationship Between Violence Against Animals and Humans, University College of Cape Breton, Sydney, Nova Scotia
(2004). “Companion Animal Renters Study: The Market for Rental Housing for People with Pets” Paws to Think Magazine, Pet Savers Foundation, Spring Issue.
(2004). The Role of Radical Animal Activists as Information Providers to Consumers, Animal Liberation Philosophy and Policy Journal, 2(1).
(2004). An Interactive Model of Human and Companion Animal Dynamics: The Ecology and Economics of Dog Overpopulation and the Human Costs of Addressing the Problem, Journal of Human Ecology, 32(1) 107-130.
(2003). “Analysis of Results Summary for Lodi & Utah”, Maddie’s Fund Newsletter & Website, August Issue. See www.maddiesfund.org
(2003). “The Dynamics of Spay-Neuter” Paws to Think Magazine, Pet Savers Foundation, Summer, 2(3), 12-13.
(2003). “Why People Do Not Spay/Neuter” Paws to Think Pet Savers Foundation, Autumn, 2(4), 13-16.
(2002). “Helping Animals, Healing Ourselves” Healing Springs Journal, October-November Issue.
(2002). A Constrained Utility Alternative to Animal Rights. Environmental Values, 1(11), 49-62.
(2002). The Actual Contribution and Potential Contribution of Economics to Animal Welfare Issues. Society and Animals, 10 (4).
(2002). The importance of time-scale in measuring the cost-effectiveness of spay/neuter programs. In Maddie’s Fund Newsletter. www.maddiesfund.org
(2002). Companion animals as economic goods and methods of minimizing the cost of unwanted animals: An executive summary. In Maddie’s Fund Newsletter.
(2001). Companion animals as economic goods and methods of minimizing the cost of unwanted animals. Dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
(2001). Companion Animals as Economics Goods and Methods of Minimizing the Cost of Unwanted Animals: An Executive Summary. In Spay USA Newsletter and Doing Things for Animals (DTFA) Newsletter.
FIREPAW Newsletter: Volumes 1-6; Issues 1-3, 2001-2006. Numerous articles relating to research and education processes in the animal welfare/animal rights arenas.
Previous analysis and results of Maddie’s Fund Programs (2002-2005):
Maddie’s Fund / FIREPAW Collaboration
FIREPAW has teamed up with Maddie’s Fund to create the architectural structure for a national database collection system and to perform data collection and statistical analyses to identify the best methods for ending the killing of healthy and treatable shelter animals. Click the links below to read a brief overview of some of our research:
Note: All the documents that are publicly available have *clickable* links. Those documents with no links must be obtained at the original source or are otherwise unavailable for public viewing. If you have problems with links, please contact: webmaster@firepaw.org

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