Murdering Animals: Writings on Theriocide, Homicide and Nonspeciesist Criminology

by Piers Beirne

Murdering Animals confronts the speciesism underlying the disparate social censures of homicide and “theriocide” (the killing of animals by humans), and as such, is a plea to take animal rights seriously. Its substantive topics include the criminal prosecution and execution of justiciable animals in early modern Europe; images of hunters put on trial by their prey in the upside-down world of the Dutch Golden Age; the artist William Hogarth’s patriotic depictions of animals in 18th Century London; and the playwright J.M. Synge’s representation of parricide in fin de siècle Ireland. Combining insights from intellectual history, the history of the fine and performing arts, and what is known about today’s invisibilised sites of animal killing, Murdering Animals inevitably should theriocide be considered murder? With its strong multi- and interdisciplinary approach, this work of collaboration will appeal to scholars of social and species justice in animal studies, criminology, sociology and law.

244 pages, Hardcover

Published March 22, 2018

About the author

Piers Beirne is Professor of Sociology and Legal Studies in the Department of Criminology at the University of Southern Maine.

Reviews

[Silvana Pellegrini Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mainstream paradigm of criminology and criminal justice, particularly in the United States, has long been centered on issues like violence — specifically, violence perpetrated against human victims — as well as drugs and street crime, and traditional property offenses like theft. However, in recent decades, some scholars have begun to take a more expansive look at the much larger reality of a world in which crime and other deviant behaviors occur in many other ways and in many different situations. One field that has opened because of this shifting paradigm is generally referred to as “Green Criminology”: this approach focuses on humanity’s impact on the natural world, particularly highlighting negative outcomes such as environmental harm and animal cruelty. Piers Beirne, the primary author of this volume, has been at the forefront of “green” criminological studies — specifically those focused on animals as victims of crime — for over two decades. Beirne was one of the first criminologists to call out criminology for its anthropocentrism and speciesism in focusing on human criminality and human crime victims. He and his two coauthors have written a very thought provoking and unique text on the historical, philosophical, and legal considerations that arise from the killing other animal species by humans, which they term “theriocide.”

In the concluding chapter, Beirne builds upon the preceding discussions to make final statements about theriocide, the rights of animals and humanity’s ability to move beyond speciesism so that theriocide may be regarded as a form of murder in the future. He rightfully criticizes mainstream criminology for being slow to study animal abuse and cruelty, but also recognizes that this may be a product of wider social views of animals. As evidence to suggest that there is a shift occurring to a new consensus — that the act of killing animals is unacceptable — Beirne cites changes or proposed changes in the terminology of animal crimes, as well as proposals to create new legal policies or even new crimes. For example, “bestiality” is now recognized as animal sexual assault, and researchers studying the trade in illegal wildlife and animal products are inclined to use the terms “abduction” or “kidnapping” instead of “trafficking.” Beirne also identifies recent attempts to have the United Nations recognize the crime of “ecocide,” which is the destruction of ecosystems and their inhabitants, as further evidence of society’s changing views about harmful human activities against animals.

The central argument that brings this book together is that animals have a right to live their lives free from humanity’s needs, wants or presumed supremacy over them. When humans take the life of animals — whether through factory farming, climate change or other environmental problems, animal cruelty and neglect, or other human actions— it should be viewed and treated in the same way as the killing of a human being. Beirne and his colleagues support this statement in a captivating and unique interdisciplinary look at humanity’s views of animals and the crime of murder in various art forms and other media. This book is suitable for criminologists and for scholars who study legal issues and animals, as well as animal rights activists, humanities’ scholars and artists who have depicted injustices toward animals.

Ref. https://clcjbooks.rutgers.edu/books/m...