Supernumerary Fellow Professor Charles Foster to publish latest book on Pets and their People

Supernumerary Fellow at Exeter College, Professor Charles Foster is set to publish his latest book, Pets and their People, on 6th November. The book’s release will be followed by a major exhibition of the same name, which is scheduled to open at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, Spring 2026. 

The book and exhibition explore the “strange rapport between humans and their pets,” examining the 10,000-year history of domestication and “what that evolution tells us about our own changing identity”. 

This work connects directly to Professor Foster’s broad interdisciplinary research. A Fellow at Exeter since 2022, he also holds positions as a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law and a Senior Research Associate at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. His research often focuses on “legal anthropology,” biology, and moral philosophy, particularly concerning “the moral status of non-human animals and what that status can tell us about our own status”. 

Pets and their People joins Professor Foster’s extensive list of publications, which often explore themes of human and animal identity. His previous works include the New York Times Bestseller Being a Beast, The Screaming Sky (2021), and Cry of the Wild (2024).  

Pets and their People is available to pre-order from Blackwells and other booksellers.

Pets and their People by Professor Charles Foster