Pets and People

Reviews / Votes

I welcome and celebrate this wonderful book that examines our relationships with the vulnerable, dependent, and delightful individuals with whom many of us live. The book as a whole is robust, illuminating, and gripping. The individual essays from the talented contributors are each remarkable. Altogether, it was a book I could not put down. * Carol J. Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat * Pets and People is a most timely and significant book. This thoughtful and comprehensive compilation of original and wide-ranging essays centering on the nature of human-animal relationships -- anthrozoology -- is a must read for anyone interested in how we interact with other animals in myriad venues. Each time I reread it I learn something new. Pets and People is a game-changer, perfect for a wide variety of courses in the general field of human-animal studies and for interested non-academics. * Marc Bekoff, author of Rewilding Our Hearts and The Animals' Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the Human Age * Billions of dollars a year are lavished on the welfare of our pets. We live with them, love them, and grieve for them. But we also abandon them, breed them in ways that cause them to suffer, and feed them on other animals that we care about much less. Pets and People is the first collection to explore such ethical concerns and contradictions of pet-keeping. The essays, by both bold new voices and distinguished scholars, explore questions including: Is pet-keeping justifiable? Can we be friends with animal companions? Is there something wrong with pedigree breeding? This collection is essential reading for anyone interested in the ethical dimensions of our relationships with pets. * Clare Palmer, co-author of Companion Animal Ethics *