Hayvanların Duygusal Dünyası: Hayvanlar Nasıl Empati Kurar, Neden Dedikodu Yapar ve Şakalaşırlar?

by Marc Bekoff

Sahip olduğumuz duygular bize atalarımızdan armağandır. Hayvanlar da benzer duygulara sahiptir.
Peki tüm hayvanlar aynı şeyleri mi hissederler? Araştırmalar gösteriyor ki fareler sadece empatik kemirgenler değil, aynı zamanda eğlenceyi seven canlılardır. Bir fil kalın derisinin altında hassas bir kalp taşır. Zevk düşkünü iguanalar, mizah duygusu olan atlar, aşık balinalar, travma sonrası stres bozukluğu yaşayan filler, yas tutan susamurları, acı çekmekte olan eşekler, kızgın babunlar, duygusal balıklara dair hikayeler okumaya hazır mısınız?
Otuz yılı aşkın bir süredir hayvanların tutkularını ve hayvani erdemlerini inceleyen ödüllü bilimadamı Biyoloji Profesörü Marc Bekoff'un, çeşitli türlerin sosyal iletişimini incelediği bu önemli kitap, hayvanların zengin bir duygusal dünyası olduğunun ispatı niteliğinde. Bekoff, hayvan sevinci, empatisi, kederi, utancı, öfkesi ve sevgisinin olağanüstü hikayelerini, sağduyu ve deneyimle birlikte son bilimsel araştırmalarla ustaca harmanlıyor. Bekoff'un, mizahi ve dokunaklı hikayelerle dolu olan Hayvanların Duygusal Dünyası adlı bu kitabı hem hayvanları nasıl gördüğümüzü hem de onlara nasıl davrandığımızı yeniden değerlendirme üzerine açık bir çağrıdır.
Hayvan duygularının büyüleyici dünyasına hoş geldiniz.

"Hayvanların Duygusal Dünyası, dünyamızı paylaştığımız hayvanlara karşı
tutumlarını değiştirmeye çalışan insanların gün geçtikçe
kalabalıklaşan korosuna güçlü bir ses katıyor."
- Jane Goodall

"Çekici, meydan okuyucu ve okunası bir kitap..."
- Booklist

"Bu düşündürücü kitap, muhtemelen hayatınızı değiştirecek."
- The Animals Voice

Genres: Animals, Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Psychology, Biology, Dogs

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2007

About the author

Please see http://www.literati.net/authors/marc-... and you can read my essays for Psychology Today here -- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/a... --

Reviews

[Adela (Lita) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book but I've been disappointed by the frame the author chose for the book. Bekoff is trying to teach people who don't necessarily agree that animals have "emotional lives" about the behaviors and signs that speak for animal emotions. However, he argues for the relevance of the work he and other scientists have done by asserting that the emotional lives of animals are important to humans because we need animals. In other words, the reasons for writing this book come across as purely anthropocentric. I am sure that knowing all he knows about animals and their rich interior lives, Bekoff knows that animal emotions should be important to us in and of themselves. We don't need to know that dogs are great therapy animals to care for them as a species. At least, we should not and this is where I take issue with the kind of frame that Bekoff selected. In an attempt to lure readers he relies too heavily on anecdotes that sometimes are simply cute and undermine the relevance of the knowledge he and his colleagues have gathered. More books that address a general audience are necessary. But authors should consider the significance of their strategies. As many readers who have already reviewed this book note, Bekoff is preaching to the choir. He could do more with his knowledge.

[Melodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this book is to call for a reassessment of how we view animals and how their emotional lives at least to some point drive their behavior. The author puts forth the belief that animals are thinking, feeling sentient beings as we are. And because they are we need to reassess and change the way we study them,care for them and use them.
The book is short and readable in that I didn't have to have a dictionary beside me to understand it. Having been written for lay people, there were plenty of anecdotes to make his points. In large part this book is preaching to the choir as those with the opposing view will probably never read it.
The other thing that bothered me is that he makes some rather sweeping generalizations. I appreciate the courage of his convictions but as a scientist, he needs to avoid those . It has been my experience that while my opinions are my own, the correct answer to big questions and problems lie more toward the middle rather than the left or right.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a remarkable and important overview of the emotional lives of animals, what they mean for our worldview and human society. It included some wonderful, touching stories, and some very interesting points.

The book was hampered by the lack of a defined structure, but was readable and enjoyable for all that. The occasional spate of weak writing crept in (and there was some abuse of exclamation points).

The main flaw is that the author seems to suffer from black-and-white vision and an superabundance of naivete. I, too, firmly believe that non-human animals have complex emotional lives and that this is a fact that's of vital importance to all decisions we make about animals and their lives. However, I do not think that the simple recognition that animals are complex emotional beings is going to miraculously stop all research on animals, all poor treatment of animals, and all abuse everywhere. I recognize there are fuzzy areas, and shades of gray, and that there's not always a simple answer. If there were, we'd already have chosen it. We humans take the easy paths.

A good example is Bekoff's treatment of the dolphin-safe tuna issue. He describes it very well, but fails to note that some research indicates that "dolphin-safe" tuna is actually worse than the environment. In that case, how do you make decisions? When it comes down to animal testing saving other (animal and human) lives (and sometimes it does no matter how creative you get with the solutions), how do you decide then? The simplicity of Bekoff's assumptions made his arguments weaker, and leaves them open to attack by those who have a stake in the belief that animals are automatons. A more nuanced exploration of the issues would have benefited everyone, including the animals.

This is especially true when it comes to his discussion of zoos. I am trying hard (VERY hard) not to take it personally that he chose to cherry-pick facts (some of which were false) from a dark period in my zoo's own history and use them to support his argument that zoos are cruel and ineffective. He condemns all zoos with one brush, without taking into account the (HUGE) recent developments in the past 10-15 years and the amazing affects zoos have on conservation attitudes (well supported by research he chooses to disregard or of which he is unaware.) He fails entirely to even try to take an unbiased look at the subject. This late-in-the-game curveball really soured the book for me. My prior complaints (see above) weren't ruining my enjoyment of the book, and I was looking forward to passing it on to others. Now, his carelessness in this area has highlighted his naivete in others. He appears to think that all animals would be better off in the wild, without even touching upon the issue that there's not enough wild left for them to go back to, or the fact that animals in the wild struggle increasingly with disease, starvation, poaching, and habitat loss from an ever-encroaching human populations.

Obviously, he's touched a nerve. It's a good book, really it is, but I'm disappointed at the shallowness of his arguments and evidence on a topic that's dear to my heart. This book is probably better than no book at all, but I'm left wishing it'd been better.

[Asoka Selvarajah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book that gives many valuable insights.

Don't believe the negative reviews. These are made mostly by non-scientists caught up in the new religion that Science has become. By its very nature, the findings recorded in this book are observational, i.e. of the animals in their normal environment. Hence, you cannot run the same test identically 1000 times as you can do determine the boiling point of water. I am a PhD in Nuclear Physics. I know what Science can and cannot do. In fact, the author addresses these very issues in the book.

This book gives us many wonderful insights and demonstrates beyond question the complex inner lives of animals, and their many similarities to our own. Highly recommended.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't criticize this book for over-reliance on anecdotes, because Bekoff never contends that he is scientifically rigorous in a traditional sense - in fact, he partially rejected accepted scientific method in refusing to perform dissections while still a student. His arguments that animals need to be observed and studied in their natural habitats is a cogent one, supported by other modern scientists and naturalists - including Renee Askins, whose Shadow Mountain is another terrific recent read. The author is sympathetic, with a seemingly boundless love for animals and genuine desire to understand their thoughts and emotions.

[Doreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I agree with many of the reviewers that this book preaches to the choir and doesn't make arguments that move beyond justifying a humane and ethical approach to animals based on what they can offer and provide us, I think the book is worth reading if only to point out not only that animals have a significant range of emotions that may be equal to or even surpass what humans feel, but that we shouldn't judge animals based on their pet-friendliness or their cutesy qualities. Rather, an important point is that all animals, including fish, rats, and reptiles should be understood as having a vast repertoire of emotions and thus must be respected. Often we are drawn to those animals that do respond to us in ways that are familiar and comforting, what I think the author is trying to make clear is that we must extend our understanding and compassion to embrace all non-human forms of life. While for some readers, this may be obvious, for me, this book became more about examining my own presumption and predilections toward certain kinds of species and non-humans.

This became clear to me as I remembered that this past summer while being exposed to the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I did some volunteer work for The Audubon Society to help 'escort' injured and sometimes dead birds found by those patrolling the waters, I immediately felt a great sense of loss and tragedy that was particularly focused on the pelicans, gulls, and other kinds of sea birds, many of whom were nesting at the time of the spill, thus exacerbating the level of injury to these avian communities. However, a few months ago I attended a panel on art and disaster in New Orleans put on by the American Anthropology Association and various artists and scientists. Several of the panelists were biologists and artists whose interests were in how minute life forms such as plankton, or certain types of hermit crabs were affected by the spill. One scientist spoke of going to beaches with groups of people to save thousands of hermit crabs who were encased in oil. They were cleaned with soap and water similar to the birds being brought to the bird triage center set up by Audubon. This scientist mentioned the danger of privileging certain kinds of life forms in light of the disaster over others, particularly because each has a role to play in the maintenance of ecosystems and should be protected and defended. Throughout the book Bekoff argues that all non-human forms of life should be respected. Additionally, his arguments at the end of the book suggest a broad range of ways that we can effect change in our relations to animals, particularly within specific institutions. Reading this book as someone affiliated at a research university, I immediately began to wonder how scientists treated animals in the labs on campus and in what ways I could find out this kind of information.

I have a feeling or a hope that some of the arguments he makes against the scientific community have been communicated in professional venues (he mentions a few confrontations in the book) and have been written for more exclusive audiences. My main critique is that he stops short of pursuing a stronger indictment of the use of animals for laboratory experiments. Even though he discusses more humane approaches to treating lab animals, where is the critique of why these experiments are even taking place. in other words, do we really need to know why monkeys get jealous? Or that whales know their left from their right? What is the extent to which we conjure up experiments and research simply for the sake of knowing why. A critique of using animals for experiments should be also include a critique of our inability to examine our lust for knowledge and our use of animals, humanely or inhumanely, for this pursuit. In that way, he is ultimately anthropocentric.

The strength of this book is that it can lead readers to examine the places where we work, live, and eat in relation to how animals are treated and perhaps begin to rethink the ways we can lessen our own individual impact on non-human animals and even advocate for change within these micro arenas and perhaps there are other books about animals that can provoke us in the same way.

[Silvana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most people who read this book probably already have the inclination to respect animals and believe that they experience a myriad of emotions so the author is unfortunately, preaching to the choir. If only the people who really needed to be made aware of the topic of this book would actually pick it up. Most moving/memorable story was that of Jasper, the moon bear - held captive in a rusting "crush cage" at a bear bile farm in China (good old China!) for 15 years! The book did feel a bit abbreviated, however, and sounded like a preachy self-help book at times, or manifesto written in a hurry. This subject deserves more.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the *idea* of this book, but I feel like it could have been a third as long (or the same length with better/more data). There was **a lot** of repetition of "it's obvious that animals have emotions" and "there is scientific data to back it up" but not as many actual impressive anecdotes recounting intelligence/sentience/emotion or hard data from studies of neurotransmitters/lab experiments/etc.

Overall I think he basically made his point that animals are more self aware, socially aware, and emotionally complex than we give them credit for, but he could have given a *lot* more examples in a much lower number of pages.

He also talked a fair amount about how animals care for each other (as friend, mothers, etc.) in a social group or even among different species, but he didn't talk at all about things like infanticide or when baby animals grow up and leave their mothers forever. A more in depth look at instances of what would be seen as "lack of empathy" if it happened in humans would have been appreciated. I feel like it weakened his argument to not address that side of the issue.

After reading this book, the most interesting idea to me is thinking about how some animals get depressed. It seems like most animals will mourn when a friend dies and then move on, but some get stuck and even die from grief. In humans cognitive psychology says that depression (depression is very different from justified sadness) and other pathological emotional states result from errors in *thinking* about a situation. Depression after a loss could result from poor self esteem, for example. If that is the case, and if animals truly can suffer from clinical depression, that has amazing implications about how much animals are able to **think** about themselves, the future, etc. (Feeling Good is a good book to read about cognitive therapy for depression, anxiety, etc. in humans).

Not sure if there is a better book on the topic of emotions in animals, but if not this one definitely introduces some interesting ideas.

[Parker F · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a neurobiologist investigating the neural substrates of behavior, I was initially very interested in this book. Despite years of education in neuroscience, I have never satisfactorily been able to discuss animal emotion and have worried that I've approached the issue with an anthropocentric arrogance. This book has unintentionally convinced me that we can never fully understand or valuate the emotional lives of animals and that the case for human-like (i.e., complex) emotions in animals is extraordinarily weak. While many reviewers have been impressed by Beckoff's academic credentials, his case is similarly structured and no more compelling than that advanced by lolcats.com. This is perhaps the most comically awful book that I have ever read.

[Angie Boyter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Animals have feelings, too! The science confirms it.
I had not heard of this book in the original edition, but as an animal lover the description really turned me on, and I looked forward to the “stories of animal joy, empathy, grief, embarrassment, anger, and love “. As a lover of science, I was also interested in hearing a bit about how we can determine the emotions of all kinds of animals, beyond the domestic family members whose emotions are clear to all who live with them.
There are, indeed, some fascinating stories of animal emotions in this book. Many are about the domestic or farm animals with whom we are familiar, but there are also descriptions of less familiar animals like grieving orcas and llamas and a touching description of a “bird funeral”. There is happiness, too, as we learn that rats like to be tickled, dogs laugh, and bird playfulness extends to a macaw tickling a human!
Overall, though, the description set up the wrong expectations for me. There is more of the science than I was expecting from the book description. Mark Bekoff is an award-winning cognitive ethologist (the study of animal minds) who has been probing “animal passions and beastly virtues” for over 50 years. He talks about the science such as the similarities that have been found between the hormones and other chemicals of humans and many other animals, even those with whom we are not closely related. He also cites many other well-known scientists like Robert Sapolsky and Frans de Waal. The style is also wordy and repetitive, especially in the early part of the book, to the point where I might have considered not reading further if I were not tantalized by the examples of animal emotions. An entire chapter discusses the challenges of dealing with uncertainty and anthropomorphism in the field.
If your main interest is hearing about examples of animal emotions, this book is probably not the best choice for you. If, however, you are interested in the field of cognitive ethology, how it operates, and what it has learned so far, Bekoff has some well thought-out insights.
I received an advance review copy of this book from Edelweiss and the publisher.

[Correen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bekoff makes his case for the existence of feelings in animals -- I hope scientists soon accept this idea, quit railing about anthropomorphism, and recognize the similarities of our systems. The issue seems so obvious that no book of this sort would be needed but the issue remains.

The author gave interesting examples of animals displaying emotions. Many of these I had read elsewhere but the set of examples enjoyable. There was some cellular explanations to support his thesis -- mirror cells.

In general, I thought it was a good book but I am not his target audience.

[Buck Wilde · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book is great. Talks about animals and their emotions. Mostly anecdotal accounts of animals exhibiting behavior that's undeniably emotion as a means of illustrating man's role as an animal and the fact that our emotions developed from the same common emotional pool as those experienced by animals.

The third quarter of the book is about how mad Bekoff is that his colleagues won't call these behaviors emotions, and how steamed he gets that they accuse him of anthropomorphising.

The final quarter of the book is him tootin on about how he's an ethical vegetarian and animals are mistreated in labs and factory farms. He says he apologizes to the animals in person because he thinks that makes a difference, even if the scientists go back to electrocuting the monkey's prostate right after. The book's raison d'être is him attempting to assuage his own guilt about the kittens he had to kill in cold blood back when he did animal research and ate meat.

Five stars for the first half of the book, 1.5 for the second half. Let's split the difference.

[Comert Vardar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitaba başlarken hayvanların duygusal dünyasıyla ilgili daha fazla bilimsel, ölçümlenebilir, ispatlanabilir bilgiler edineceğimi düşünüyordum, yanılmışım.

Yazarın da uzunca bahsettiği gibi Bilişsel Etoloji'nin zorluğu da buymuş zaten; hayvanların duygusal dünyası söz konusu olduğunda, bilim sadece (ve şimdilik) insanların her gün deneyimlediklerini gözlemleyip, yakalamaya çalışıyor.
Anlaşılan o ki, hayvanların duygu dünyasını daha derinlikli anlayabilmemiz için biraz daha zamana ihtiyacımız var.

Bu süreçte dostlarımıza en duyarlı şekilde yaklaşmak insanlık olarak en büyük görevimiz.
🦉🦅🦏🐖🦃🐕‍🦺🦬🐄🪶🦃🐖🐇🦐🪲🦀🦎🐢🦋🦗

[Kristen E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!!!!

[Melanie Lunzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this writer, and his style, and his journey in the field of animal research. But I need to stop reading books like this because the stories of animal testing and cruelty stay with me. Suffice to say I also believe animals have emotions. They are clearly superior beings to humans.

[Juliette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livre complet: des observations de terrains, de la science, des études diverses et variées, des points de vue différents... Très intéressant et instructif sur beaucoup de points !

[Abdullah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book prove that animals have feelings primarily via anecdotes. The book is short and very easy to read. I recommend this book to everyone interested in animal wellbeing.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most important practical takeaway from this book is that "well-being centers on what animals feel, not what they know" (knowledge, intelligence, and emotions aren't necessarily correlated, and the ability to suffer depends on emotions, so we shouldn't base our moral judgments on knowledge or intelligence the way a lot of people do when they say things like "it's okay to eat a fish but not a cow").

Bekoff is more focused on practical considerations than a lot of people. He's aware that the results of science lead to decisions, so he's not afraid to talk about those decisions. I had a history of science professor who said that most scientists hate history and philosophy of science, but Bekoff is definitely an exception-- he's willing to talk about how science is affected by who is doing it, who's funding it, who wants to profit, etc. while a lot of people want to maintain the illusion that they are already perfectly objective and unbiased (or that their methods have the ability to filter out all bias).

He also talks more about proximate causes (neurology) than a lot of the people I've been reading. Most people mention Tinbergen's 4 aims (function, adaptation, mechanisms, and ontogeny) but focus on function and adaptation.

There's one chapter where Bekoff is trying to talk about the intuitive knowledge you can have about what other animals are feeling because of mirror neurons and shared evolutionary history, but he calls it "anthropomorphism" and it throws the whole chapter off. He defines anthropomorphism properly once, but then goes on to call all sorts of things anthropomorphic when they have nothing to do with humans in particular. He even says it's anthropomorphic for humans to find other mammals' babies cute because they "look like human babies", even after explaining that actually those baby features and the adult "cuteness" response to them are older than humans and highly conserved, so human babies look like other babies and not the other way around. He finally quotes Robert Sapolsky on how attributing animal characteristics to animals isn't anthropomorphic, but he continues to call it "anthropomorphism". What's the point of using a word incorrectly just because you want to defend it? Just admit that talking about features that multiple animal species share isn't focusing on one of those species in particular. You always have a bias toward your own species but if you put in a lot of observation hours and you're thinking about what you're studying from the animal's perspective, you'll be fine.

[Christina Booth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marc Bekoff takes his scientific research, that he has accumulated for over thirty years, and turns it into a charming book proving that animals do in fact have emotions. It is clear that he is trying to prove to his readers that animals have feelings and these feelings need to be respected. Bekoff proves his findings through several anecdotes and first hand experiences he’s had over the years. His lighthearted humor and touching stories is what gave this book life. It wasn’t a boring essay filled with experiments and facts. Instead it was a book filled with animals that we fell in love with. Bekoff has taught me just that, a book based on scientific research can be entertaining when paired with the right example. When describing how he came to his conclusion that animals have empathy he shared a story about an elephant named Babyl who was crippled and walked very slow, “We saw that the elephants in Babyl’s group didn’t leave her behind; they waited for her. They would walk awhile, then stop and look around to see where Babyl was.” It’s these stories that made me finish reading a book that I typically wouldn’t even think about reading.

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Animals and emotions. It’s a touchy subject. Most people can readily admit that most animals have primary (fight or flight) type reactions. However, opinions begin to change when researchers start discussing secondary emotions, like love, compassion, sadness, etc.

Anyone who has ever had a pet knows for a fact that their cat, dog, snake, etc has such emotions. We know for a fact that they have very distinct personalities and preferences. Yet, somehow the same people, find it difficult to believe that a chimpanzee, an elephant, a wolf, a magpie, or a fish might also be capable of something beyond primitive reactions.

The Emotional Lives of Animals gives accounts of animals displaying what would seem to be primary emotions. As one would expect, the author discusses big brained animals such as elephants, higher primates, whales, and dolphins. However, the most interesting studies look at unexpected animals such as fish to examine their capabilities.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book! Marc Bekoff is a leading scientist in the area of cognitive ethology (the observation of animals under natural conditions). As an animal lover, I found myself nodding along to all of his statements. Even though Marc Bekoff presents scientific content, his writing style is simple and straight-forward. He thoroughly explains the scientific terms he uses. I walked away from the book having learned several new terms. My favorite is anthropomorphism, which is the attribution of uniquely human characteristics to non-human beings.

I borrowed this book from the library but about half way through reading it I decided to buy it. I know this is the type of book I'll reference again and again. I also bought another book by Marc Bekoff, "Minding Animals: Awareness, Emotions, and Heart". I can't wait to read it!

[Lucia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I skimmed parts. I was mostly reading for the sweet and fascinating stories and anecdotes.

I've read or skimmed other books in this vein, and they seemed really obvious. (duh, we've all witnessed family pets exhibiting joy, grief, fear, jealousy.)
This book wasn't "obvious," and it was an easy and pleasant read.

The implications of 'yes, pigs are smart,' 'yes, cows play games and act vain,' and 'yes, the creatures you eat feel pain and fear,' were pretty clear and thought-provoking, so I skipped the last chapter on ethics.
I wish skeptics would read books like this, but alas, I think it's mostly preaching to the choir.

[Marta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is definitely one that opens your eyes! For me it talked about things that I already felt, but those feelings were put into words and explained.
If you have doubts you should read it, if not is a good way to make you think even further! It's a book with science and with stories, for me that's the best way to really put you thinking and connecting. Moreover, it has some old ideas based on old stories which nowadays we know it's different and one thing that I thought that wasn't great was the American examples that were a lot (it would be nice to have a more global perspective even tho it's hard).

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half he tries to convince you that animals have feelings. (I think if you're reading this book, you probably already believe that.) The second half he segues into arguments for improved treatment of animals across the board. This book is not at all scientifically rigorous, if that's what you're looking for. Having said that, it's a very quick read, with many cute animal anecdotes, so why not.

[Ursula · Rating 1 out of 5]

--ABANDONED--

It's an interesting topic, which makes it seem like it should have also been an interesting book. I made it just over halfway through, but the writing was tedious and although I enjoyed the anecdotes he included, the book didn't hold together that well overall. Positive: I liked the foreword by Jane Goodall. Negative: I found myself skipping paragraphs at a time once Bekoff's writing started.

[Rebekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

finally finished this. while not a light read (it goes a little overboard with scientific "data" at times), it was very enjoyable, and at times, a little heartbreaking. it never ceases to astound me just how deep the bonds animals can create go. a wonderful read.
And I really think elephants are amazing creatures!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

For animal lovers everywhere...
This book delves into the ethnology and emotions of animals ranging from the elephant to the mouse. The author uses scientific research to back his theories. Jane Goodall writes a compelling introduction.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Supposed scientific studies were rarely cited, and the ones he did explain were flimsy at best. I actually agree with what he's saying, I just feel like he did a disservice to his cause by writing this book.

[Eli · Rating 5 out of 5]

everybody should read this along with Bekoff's other books, Wild Justice, Animal Manifesto, and combine it with reading the Bond by Lynne McTaggart. We, the human animal, need a new paradigm to live by, and these offer insight as to how to get there.

[John Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written piece which to my thinking called into question more about the science aspects of how animals are treated during their lives in research facilities and the like. I thoroughly enjoyed the book but wouldn't recommend it to someone who's not interested keenly in cognitive ethology.