A Project of Animal People, Inc., 1992-2013
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
Training Your Dog the Humane Way
by Alana Stevenson
New World Library
(14 Pameron Way, Novato, CA 94949), 2011.
194 pages paperback. $15.95.
Training Your Dog the Humane Way, by Alana Stevenson, squeezes into a crowded market of training manuals, but stands out for emphasizing non-violent methods. Stevenson doesn’t believe in the use of shock collars, or the spiked collars often seen on bully breeds. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
A Bond Unique:
Thoughts and stories about people and the dogs they love
Edited by Reg Green
Iroquois County Animal Rescue
(100 NW Lincoln, Iroquois, IL 60945), 2010.
60 pages, illustrated, paperback. $25.00
I never tire of reading books about dogs and their owners. This one is as uplifting as any other book I have reviewed for Animal People. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
Humane education classic:
Ordeal of the Animals
by Mel Morse
Prentice-Hall Inc., 1968.
212 pages, hardcover.
Wrote Humane Society of the U.S. senior policy advisor Bernard Unti to ANIMAL PEOPLE in June 2011, “Mel Morse, the HSUS president in the years 1968-1970, wrote a book in 1968 entitled Ordeal of the Animals. It is a nice period piece,” Unti assessed, “a snapshot of how the landscape looked right about that time. It was a composite work,” Unti said, “drawing on material drafted by core staff members like Patrick Parkes,” who were not credited. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
Rescue Pup
by Brenda Fiorini
Joyful Journey Books
(P.O. Box 216, Rock Falls, IL 61071), 2011.
32 pages, paperback, illust., $7.95.
Stranded by his people, Buddy sits and waits for their return. He doesn’t know yet that they are not coming back. Gnawing hunger leads him to break through a screen door. Like most stray dogs and cats, he confronts hardships such as unfriendly people and road hazards, and lack of food. Eventually a car stops. The driver takes Buddy to the local shelter where he finds comfort. A family adopts Buddy and his story ends happily. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
Unlikely Friendships
by Jennifer S. HollandWorkman Publishing
(225 Varick St., 9th floor, New York, NY 10014), 2011.
210 pages, paperback. $13.95.
Exceptional color pictures of animals posing together sell Unlikely Friendships. The individual stories are even more captivating. One of the best known involves Koko, who was taught American Sign Language by Gorilla Foundation founder Penny Patterson. For years Patterson also read stories about cats and kittens to Koko. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
Animal Rights:
What Everyone Needs to Know
by Paul Waldau
Oxford University Press
(198 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016), 2010.
224 pages, paperback. $16.95.The Animal Rights Debate
by Gary L. Francione
& Robert Garner
Columbia University Press
(61 West 62nd St., New York, NY 10023), 2010.
272 pages, hardback, $24.50.
My practice, in reviewing works of philosophy, is to save them for long flights to far-away places, when I will have the rare luxury of being able to read for hours without interruption. Then I write about what I remember well enough to be still thinking about it a week or two later. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
Chutki’s Experiences
by A. Shamalatha Rao
22 pages, paperback. $4.49,
P.O. Box 5145, Pleasanton, CA 94566
or c/o <shamalatharao@yahoo.com>
Shamalatha Rao writes in the voice of Chutki, an Indian
street dog, to teach children about pet overpopulation and cruelty
to animals. Stray dogs compete for scraps with impoverished people
in the teeming slums of Mumbai and the surrounding countryside.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2011:
Suryia & Roscoe:
The true story of an unlikely friendship
by Bhagavan “Doc” Antle & Thea Feldman
Henry Holt & Company, Inc. (175 Fifth Ave., New York,
NY 10010), 2011. 32 pages, hardcover, illustrated. $16.99.
The color picture on page one of Suryia & Roscoe sold me on
this children’s book before I read a single word of the text. The
image of a smiling orangutan, Suryia, with hairy arms draped around
a dog named Roscoe, is priceless. According to the story, narrated
by South Carolina wildlife exhibitor Bhagavan Antle and Thea Feldman,
an author of numerous children’s picture books, Roscoe wandered into
Antle’s premises where Suryia was riding Bubbles the elephant.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2011:
Humane education classic:
The Animal Shelter by Patricia Curtis
Lodestar Books (c/o E.P. Dutton), 1984.
164 pages, hardcover. $13.95 original price.
The Animal Shelter, by Patricia Curtis, introduced a
generation of young people to humane work.
“I wrote The Animal Shelter 28 years ago, so it is badly
out-of-date,” Curtis told ANIMAL PEOPLE in May 2011, seemingly
surprised to be looked up and asked about it after all this time. “I
hope things have improved since then, both in the numbers of animals
surrendered to shelters and in the condition of shelters. My
impression is that the book got a mixed reception,” Curtis
continued. “I hope it did some good. Some shelters wrote to me that
they were grateful that I had drawn attention to their problems. But
some people couldn’t handle the truth as I tried to tell it.
