Governance systems that humans have developed to manage animals in societies, both human and non-human, are explored and what this means for our relationship with animals. To begin, the history of human society governance is considered and how this compares with animal societies. Not only might we learn from animal governance systems but also the way in which human society is governed has a major influence on people’s well-being and their willingness and ability to maintain their animals in good welfare. In almost all wild animal societies, cohesion between the members is at a high level to guarantee survival of the population. There is often fighting for access to females, which may be physical and intense, but all-out war is very rare, because it often threatens the survival of one or both warring parties. The bellicose nature of human society today, and our individual desires to better ourselves at the expense of others, is why we have much to learn from animal societies.