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About Canada: Animal Rights
Casting a critical gaze over the exploitation of animals in agriculture, fashion, and entertainment, this manifesto investigates Canada`s antiquated laws for such industries as the fur trade, seal hunting, the Calgary Stampede, puppy mills, horse slaughter, and the virtually unregulated vivisection industry. The book advocates an abolitionist agenda; promotes veganism as a personal and political commitment; shows the economic, environmental, and health costs of animal exploitation; and presents animal rights as a social justice issue.
192 pages, Paperback
First published July 31, 2010
32 people want to read
About the author
John Sorenson
21 books5 followersJohn Sorenson is a full professor in the Sociology department at Brock University, where he gives courses on animals and society, racism, and corporate globalization. Much of his research has been on war, nationalism and refugees. His current research concerns the exploitation of animals, representation of animals and animal rights as a social justice movement.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 16, 2011
Despite the title, this is not really a book about Canada. It is Canada-focused, but it is more of a general introduction to animal rights. That was good for me, because it’s the animal rights part that I was interested in, and I think I might have missed the “About Canada” part when requesting the book from LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program.
Anyway it is a well-written book with plenty of research and examples. It doesn’t pull any punches in describing the full horror of foie gras, factory farming, hunting, seal-clubbing, etc. For example you can read about a video that showed “employees slamming live ducks into the floor, grabbing ducks by their necks and throwing them through the air, and force feeding ducks to the point where they vomited food stained bright red with blood from their damaged throats.”
I think it’s good to read things like that, as horrible as they are. The only way many of us are able to eat meat is by lying to ourselves about exactly what is involved. Even the language we use shields us from reality – “meat” instead of dead animals, “pork” instead of pig, “rump steak” instead of cow’s arse, etc. Reading about the cruelty and suffering involved in the food industry, and in many other industries involving the exploitation of animals for profit, is important I think.
Sorenson argues for a concept of animal rights much broader than mere ‘humane’ treatment, however. He wants to overturn the whole way of viewing animals as commodities to be profited from, ending what he calls ‘speciesism’ and replacing it with a view of animals as fellow beings with their own rights. It was a very interesting book, full of compelling arguments, and I’m happy I came across it.
Anyway it is a well-written book with plenty of research and examples. It doesn’t pull any punches in describing the full horror of foie gras, factory farming, hunting, seal-clubbing, etc. For example you can read about a video that showed “employees slamming live ducks into the floor, grabbing ducks by their necks and throwing them through the air, and force feeding ducks to the point where they vomited food stained bright red with blood from their damaged throats.”
I think it’s good to read things like that, as horrible as they are. The only way many of us are able to eat meat is by lying to ourselves about exactly what is involved. Even the language we use shields us from reality – “meat” instead of dead animals, “pork” instead of pig, “rump steak” instead of cow’s arse, etc. Reading about the cruelty and suffering involved in the food industry, and in many other industries involving the exploitation of animals for profit, is important I think.
Sorenson argues for a concept of animal rights much broader than mere ‘humane’ treatment, however. He wants to overturn the whole way of viewing animals as commodities to be profited from, ending what he calls ‘speciesism’ and replacing it with a view of animals as fellow beings with their own rights. It was a very interesting book, full of compelling arguments, and I’m happy I came across it.
January 12, 2015
i'm a vegan and i hated this book. why? because the author mentions the four pieces of shit who broke into a person's home in camrose, alberta in 2007 while they were away and tortured their friendly and loving cat to death for kicks. i am losing sleep and having nightmares over this thinking about how that poor cat must have suffered. i don't think i can ever be the same again.
the first night they put the cat in a microwave oven for a few seconds then put her in the freezer and left her there to suffer. the next night they came back, took her out of the freezer and placed her in the microwave for more than ten minutes as she screamed and struggled for her life until she was dead while these four sadistic, psychopathic monsters laughed. before they left they scrawled on the kitchen window and cupboards "nice cat, look in the microwave".
three of them were 15 years old at the time and the fourth was 13. all they received as punishment was 100 hours of community service! if you want to know their names just google "camrose cat killers" to find out. two of the rotten bastards now live in edmonton, alberta and none of them show any signs of remorse and indeed still make fun of the incident.
the little cat's name was princess.
the first night they put the cat in a microwave oven for a few seconds then put her in the freezer and left her there to suffer. the next night they came back, took her out of the freezer and placed her in the microwave for more than ten minutes as she screamed and struggled for her life until she was dead while these four sadistic, psychopathic monsters laughed. before they left they scrawled on the kitchen window and cupboards "nice cat, look in the microwave".
three of them were 15 years old at the time and the fourth was 13. all they received as punishment was 100 hours of community service! if you want to know their names just google "camrose cat killers" to find out. two of the rotten bastards now live in edmonton, alberta and none of them show any signs of remorse and indeed still make fun of the incident.
the little cat's name was princess.
May 21, 2012
This is a pretty good basic introduction to various perspectives on animal rights. From my read of it, the author takes an abolitionist approach and advocates veganism, but does include references to other ideological perspectives to understanding animal rights. There are certain pretty insightful comments scattered throughout, otherwise it really provides a framework based on the writings of different authors. I think the tone sometimes gets too polemical, but I'm still navigating my understandings of the divide between rational and emotional (that is to say, whether it exists/ought to exist/etc). Some parts of it are pretty disturbing, particularly when you are reading it after watching Earthlings, so you can make visual associations with the references. I definitely recommended it to anyone trying to get a grasp on the the philosophical arguments regarding animal rights, especially from a perspective contextualized in Canada.
October 8, 2015
A good, quick overview of animal rights issues and the various forms this can take. Although Sorenson does not limit himself to Canada, I like that this book has a focus on Canadian animal industries. Most often animals rights are framed from a US point of view so it was glad to pick up more detailed information about Canadian issues.
Sorenson lands heavily on the side of complete abolition through vegan exemption of animal exploitation. He is not shy in language choices - something I don't exactly disagree with bit wasn't expecting. I also think his passion gets the better of him in some arguments where he seems to make assertions about personal health and safety through veganism that he doesn't fully back up with evidence.
Overall, I like the book and recommend it for anyone who wants to understand the wide reach of animal exploitation in our capitalist society.
Sorenson lands heavily on the side of complete abolition through vegan exemption of animal exploitation. He is not shy in language choices - something I don't exactly disagree with bit wasn't expecting. I also think his passion gets the better of him in some arguments where he seems to make assertions about personal health and safety through veganism that he doesn't fully back up with evidence.
Overall, I like the book and recommend it for anyone who wants to understand the wide reach of animal exploitation in our capitalist society.
December 18, 2016
An interesting, if slighly academic, look at Canada's treatment of animals. The author openly wears his heart on his sleeve (or ideological biases, depending on how you look at it) but this is not necessarily a bad thing as there is no hidden agenda. Sorenson does a good job at tying animal rights to other issues such as human rights, feminism and capitalism.
This is not a 'warm and fuzzy' book for people thinking about perhaps going vegetarian or starting to look at animal rights. It is an academic exploration of animal rights theory, and a very 'Canada-centric' one (though the examples would apply in various other contexts). It would be of great use to someone who is writing a paper on the issue, or is looking for a more in-depth exploration of the topic.
This is not a 'warm and fuzzy' book for people thinking about perhaps going vegetarian or starting to look at animal rights. It is an academic exploration of animal rights theory, and a very 'Canada-centric' one (though the examples would apply in various other contexts). It would be of great use to someone who is writing a paper on the issue, or is looking for a more in-depth exploration of the topic.
July 12, 2015
Provides a good overview of the abysmal level of protection accorded to animals in our country. The author advocates a strictly rights-based approach to animal welfare. While his position is based on a legitimate concern for the well-being of sentient creatures, such an uncompromising abolitionist stance seems as though it may discourage dialogue with parties who use animals for pleasure and economic gain.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews