“Unconditional Acceptance: the Human-Animal Bond” examines how the human-animal bond relationship has evolved over time and is continuing to change. At one time, animals were believed to not have emotions or feel pain. Although this idea is no longer the norm, harm to animals continues. Especially tragic is when this abuse occurs in front of children, who are highly impressionable and can believe that such behavior is acceptable. The way children interact with their pets clearly influences the type of person they become as adults. As our cultural beliefs about animal rights have improved, shelters have responded with changes of their own. Both government and nonprofit animal welfare organizations strive to lower the euthanasia rate and improve adoption rates, but they face different challenges in how to accomplish these goals. The film discusses ways shelters are influencing their community to better the lives for those who cannot speak for themselves. “If we don’t stand up for animals as a community, I don’t know who will” said Mark Lucas, of PAWS Chicago. During this project, we went to many different shelters including Animal Rescue Fund, Muncie Animal Care and Control, PAWS Chicago, Cat Haven, and Humane Society for Hamilton County. These devoted workers gave us time out of their busy work schedules to share their stories of animal cruelty and neglect cases and changes they have made to better the lives of dogs and cats. We also spoke with a leading professor in the field of animal-assisted social work, ASPCA 2008 prosecutor of the year, and a doctoral student studying the ethics of the human-animal work relationship.