1 Forthcoming in Colombino, A. Bruckner, H. K. (eds.) “Methods in Human-Animal Studies: Engaging with animals through the social sciences”, Routledge. Chapter 1 Hidden in plain sight: How (and why) to attend to the animal in human-animal relations Annalisa Colombino and Heide K. Bruckner Abstract In this introduction, authors highlight how the present book builds on, and contributes to, methodological debates in human-animal studies. By providing important context about the state of research in human-animal studies, and the current methodological fragmentation, the introduction orients readers to how, and why, a cohesive discussion of methodological tools is imperative. Authors then review each chapters’ contributions, describing authors’ central aims of re-focusing our methods to better attend to the animal side of human-animal relations. The introduction ends by discussing important limitations of the book, as well as suggesting ways forward for human-animal scholarship. Animals surround me right now as I write these words: Inside are three cats; sculptures of elephants […]; photos of cheetahs […] and a painting of coyotes. Pieces of animals decorate nearly every room (all found!) – bird nests, a porcupine quill, bison fur, […] the skeletal mouth of a sea urchin. Outside there are butterflies, a huge spider that lives by the porch light, mosquitoes, […]and the neighbourhood bully cats. Furthermore, there is milk and cheese in the refrigerator, cat food made of cows, chickens, turkeys, salmon, and tuna, honey, leather shoes, a leather softball glove, and household products that have been tested on animals (Urbanik 2012, p. xi). Nobody cares about animals (Academic expressing scorn at human-animal scholarship). I do not see animals in the fridge (Academic laughing with derision). i The material and symbolic presence of animals at once surrounds, and alludes us. While many argue that the social and environmental realities of our contemporary world call us to reconfigure how we interrelate with animals in less exploitative ways, doing so first requires our careful attention to how animals emerge, and what their needs may be. Questions about epistemology, methods and methodology quickly arise—how do we begin to understand