The Company We Keep

Traditionally, a review should not begin with what is wrong with a book. But in the case of Jay Ingram’s The Science of Pets, it seems necessary to address two big flaws up front: the cover and the title.

I suppose the choices were made with marketing in mind. The cynic in me suspects that if you slap an image of a pooch on anything, dog lovers will buy it. And I believe that if you couple “science” and “pets” in a title, a whole cohort of people will flock to a book, podcast, or documentary seeking further confirmation about the great things their fur babies do for them. A biological miracle drug, a pet can lower blood pressure, assuage loneliness, and even save a life — right? It turns out that the real lowdown on pets is much more complex, and it’s a subject that shines in the capable hands of Ingram, a science communicator with over four decades of experience in a variety of formats.

Ingram is remembered and beloved as the former host of CBC’s...