The inaugural meeting was held at Dundee University in 1979 and was organised by veterinarians Dr Bruce Fogle and Doug Brodie. Those who attended thought that human-animal interactions were worthy of study. These visionaries also included veterinarians Dr Andrew Edney (President of British Small Animal Veterinary Association - BSAVA), Dr Mary Stewart (University of Glasgow), Dr Andrew Yoxall (University of Cambridge) and Meredith Lloyd Evans.; animal behaviourists Dr Roger Mugford (current SCAS VP) and Dr James Serpell (University of Cambridge); Dr Michael McCulloch MD and Professor Aaron Katcher, both psychiatrists from the USA; Dorothy Walster from the Scottish Health Education Group and Dr Stuart Hutton, social worker. They formed the Group for the Study of the Human/Animal Bond (GSHCAB), later to be renamed SCAS.

In January 1980 the GSHCAB with BSAVA jointly organised a symposium in London attended by some 200 delegates from ten countries. The proceedings were published as “Interrelationships between pets and people” by Thomas, Springfield, Illinois. The GSHCAB held its first General Meeting and elected its first officers.

In 1981 GSHCAB helped organise the first International Congress on human-animal interactions at the University of Pennsylvania. At this congress it was decided that American members would form a separate body – to be known as the Delta Society.

The next scientific meeting of GSHCAB was in Paris in 1982, courtesy of AFIRAC - Association Francaise d@Information et de Recherche sur L'Animal de Compagne, a French organisation with similar aims. At the Paris meeting the name of our organisation was changed to The Society for Companion Animal Studies, SCAS. In 1982 SCAS organised a workshop on “Pet psychotherapy” in London, attracting new members. In the same year Hearing Dogs for Deaf People was launched by SCAS members Bruce Fogle, Anne Conway and Lesley Scott-Ordish.

SCAS was granted charitable status in 1983. An international congress on human-animal interactions was held in Vienna in 1983 - “The Human-Pet Relationship”. This was attended by Professor Konrad Lorenz in honour of his 80th birthday. Until his death in 1989, Konrad Lorenz was SCAS distinguished patron. Lorenz, a founder of ethology, was a Nobel Laureate.

SCAS members have been responsible for introducing many notable programmes. In addition to cofounding Hearing Dogs, Lesley Scott Ordish also founded Pets as Therapy in 1983.

1984 saw the first SCAS publication on pet bereavement.
The Pet Connection: its Influence on our Health and Quality of Life

Two conferences held back to back in California and Minnesota.

SCAS members established the Pet Fostering Service Scotland (PFSS) in 1985. This programme was created to develop a network of volunteers who provide foster care for the pets of older people – to allow them to undergo hospitalisation. PFSS has more recently expanded its work to provide foster care for the pets of those fleeing domestic violence.