Humans, whales, and the ghosts of high seas drifters

July 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2003:

The Whaling Season: An Inside Account of the
Struggle to Stop Commercial Whaling, by Kieran
Mulvaney
Island Press (1718 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite
300, Washington, DC 20009), 2003. 349 pages,
hardcover. $26.00.

Between Species: Celebrating the Dolphin-Human
Bond, edited by Toni Frohoff & Brenda Peterson
Sierra Club Books (85 Second St., San Francisco,
CA 94105), 2003. 361 pages, hardcover. $24.95.

From the title, and from the longtime
role of author Kieran Mulvaney as the main
Greenpeace media liaison at annual meetings of
the International Whaling Commission, one might
guess that The Whaling Season: An Inside Account
of the Struggle to Stop Commercial Whaling is an
exposé or defense of backroom politics.

BOOKS: For Bea

June 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2003:

For Bea:
The Story of the Beagle Who Changed My Life
by Kristin Von Kreisler
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam
(375 Hudson street, New York 10014), 2003. 190 pages. $19.95, paperback.

During an evening walk Kristin Von Kreisler encountered a
sick and exhausted stray beagle, and could not just leave the dog
there. She took the beagle home and named her Bea. She could not
understand why Bea was so strongly afraid of humans, even those who
were friendliest. What kind of past could have made her shake from
fear at any human contact?

BOOKS: On Older Cats

June 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2003:

On Older Cats
by Judith Lindley
1stBooks (1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403), 2003.
302 pages. $14.50, paperback.

Judith Lindley was given her first litter of kittens 30 years
ago, at age 20. They won her heart. She had found her life’s work.
Lindley still devotedly nurses unwanted cats at the Animal Helpline
no-kill sanctuary, where she and her family shelter older and
handicapped cats, along with dogs, rabbits, geese and turkeys.
In On older cats Lindley shares her hands-on experience and
gives practical advice on the care of older cats. Some cat guardians
may be confused by the multi-faceted scientific explanations she
gives of the physiological and psychological changes within older
cats, but her practical tips will definitely be useful.

BOOKS: They Shall Not Hurt Or Destroy

June 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2003:

They Shall Not Hurt Or Destroy
Animal Rights & Vegetarianism in the Western Religious Traditions
by Vasu Murti
Vegetarian Advocates Press (P.O. Box 201791, Cleveland, OH 44120), 2003.
140 pages, paperback. $15.00.

They Shall Not Hurt Or Destroy author Vasu Murti traces the
struggle for animal rights and vegetarianism back to antiquity. The
great prophets of Israel, Pythagoras, and Plato spoke out against
slaughter.
The cause was then taken up by the early leaders of the Christian
church and their Jewish counterparts, demonstrates Murti.
Separate chapters deal with Jewish, Catholic, and
Protestant teachings, from medieval times to the present.
Says the Jewish Talmud, “Adam and many generations that followed
him were strict flesh-abstainers; flesh-foods were rejected as
repulsive for human consumption.”

How pygmies came to be on the bushmeat menu and memories of a primate researcher who worked in both the bush and the lab

June 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2003:

A Primate’s Memoir:
A Neuroscientist’s Unconventional Life
Among the Baboons
by Robert M. Sapolsky

Touchstone (c/o Simon & Schuster,
1230 Avenue of the Americas,
New York, NY 10020), 2001.
304 pages, paperback. $14.00.

Eating Apes
by Dale Peterson
with afterword & photos
by Karl Amman
University of California Press
(2120 Berkeley Way, Berkeley,
CA 94720), 2003.
333 pages, hardcover. $24.95.
Read more

Reviews: One Last Fight

June 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2003:

One Last Fight: Exposing the Shame
Directed & filmed by Erik Friedl. Written by John Caruso.
Produced by the Anti-Cruelty Society (157 W. Grand Ave., Chicago,
IL 60610), 2002.
15-minute video. $20.00.

The history of video exposes of dogfighting is less sordid
than dogfighting itself–but nothing is more sordid than dogfighting.
Commonly associated with dogfighting, according to the
ANIMAL PEOPLE case files, are pet theft; stealing dogs, drugs,
and money from humane societies; child abuse and neglect; pimping
and prostitution; drug trafficking; extortion; arson; rape; and
criminal mayhem, legalese for “torture.”

Cat Books

June 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2003:

Shadow Cats:
Tales from New York City’s Animal Underground
by Janet Jensen
Adams Media (57 Littlefield St., Avon, MA
02322), 2002. 224 pages, paperback. $9.95.

Cat Culture:
The Social World of a Cat Culture
by Janet M. Alger & Steve F. Alger
Temple Univ. Press (1601 N. Broad St.,
Philadelphia, PA 19122), 2003. 224 pages,
paperback. $19.95.

Too Many Dogs And Cats??
by Dorothea Friz, DVM, Lega Pro Animale
Fndtn. Mondo Animale Onlus (1 Trav. Via Pietro
Pagliuca, 81030 Castel Voltuno (CE), Italy),
2003. 51 pages,
paperback. Ordering info: <legaproanimale@tin.it>.

Shadow Cats, Cat Culture, and Too Many
Dogs And CatsŠ ?? could together form the reading
list for a short course on humane feral cat
control.

BOOKS: Monster of God

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2003:

Monster of God:
The man-eating predator in the
jungles of history and the mind
by David Quammen
W.W. Norton & Co. (500 5th Ave., New York, NY 10110), 2003.
384 pages, hardcover. $26.95.

Certain to be classified by most librarians as “natural
history,” Monster of God has already been mistaken by many reviewers
as a screed in defense of “sustainable use.”
Monster of God is actually a book mostly about faith,
exploring the influence of the human evolutionary role as prey upon
concepts of religion, and of the more recent human ascendance as a
top predator on our ideas about conservation.

A video that never mentions Heifer Project International shows why their premise is wrong

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

Saving Baby Ubuntu
Video from Compassion In World Farming (South Africa)
c/o Humane Education Trust
P.O. Box 825, Somerset West, 7129, South Africa; <avoice@yebo.co.za>
15 minutes. Free on request; donation recommended.

Saving Baby Ubuntu is the gently narrated story of how
several African animal advocates rescued just one newborn calf from
the traffic in calves between the factory dairy farms of South Africa
and the shantytowns where poor people struggle mostly unsuccessfully
to raise livestock of their own, on inadequate land and improper
diets. Most of the animals die miserably.
Among all the illusions afflicting poor people around the
world, among the most insidious is the notion that anyone can build
wealth by trading upon the fecundity of animals. Surplus dairy
calves, “spent” hens, and other cast-off factory farmed livestock
are indeed dirt-cheap, because to the factory farms these animals
are merely waste products, whose continued life is an
inconvenience–and healthier animals can sometimes be obtained free,
or almost free, from do-gooder organizations like Heifer Project
International.

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