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Tryn's Reviews > Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals
Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals
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I liked this work better than her other book; "Animals in Translation".
Mainly because I felt it gave me more insight into more animals than only cows - though the information provided regarding the raising, housing, and slaughtering of our country's beef was eye-opening and something really everyone should know.
What I really like is her no-nonsense, practical, yet humane approach to things.
One of the best bits in this book for me is at the end, where she is answering some of the questions that she gets asked most - one being "How can you care about animals when you design slaughter plants?"
Her answer is perfect.
She says, " Many people today are totally insulated from death, but every living thing eventually dies; this is the cycle of life. Since people are responsible for breeding and raising farm animals, they must also take the responsibility to give the animals living conditions that provide a decent life and a painless death."
And later she remarks on those who challenge the idea of animals having emotions (in my humble opinion, anyone who thinks animals have no emotions is either a willfully ignorant tool, or has never spent any amount of time with a non-human animal. We are all animals.)
She says, "Some people may not want to believe that animals really do have emotions. I think their own emotions are getting in the way of logic. When I read all of the scientific evidence about electrical stimulation of subcortical brain systems, the only logical conclusion was that the basic emotion systems are similar in humans and all other mammals. I used cerebral, logical thinking to help reform slaughterhouses, and I used the same logical thought processes to fully accept the existence of emotions in animals.
**For those who don't know, Temple Grandin is a pHD professor, and a proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter, the author of over 60 scientific papers on animal behavior, and is a consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior. She is a spokesperson for autism and animals. She helped designed the slaughter systems we have today, which make slaughter less painful, less scary, and easier for all involved.
Mainly because I felt it gave me more insight into more animals than only cows - though the information provided regarding the raising, housing, and slaughtering of our country's beef was eye-opening and something really everyone should know.
What I really like is her no-nonsense, practical, yet humane approach to things.
One of the best bits in this book for me is at the end, where she is answering some of the questions that she gets asked most - one being "How can you care about animals when you design slaughter plants?"
Her answer is perfect.
She says, " Many people today are totally insulated from death, but every living thing eventually dies; this is the cycle of life. Since people are responsible for breeding and raising farm animals, they must also take the responsibility to give the animals living conditions that provide a decent life and a painless death."
And later she remarks on those who challenge the idea of animals having emotions (in my humble opinion, anyone who thinks animals have no emotions is either a willfully ignorant tool, or has never spent any amount of time with a non-human animal. We are all animals.)
She says, "Some people may not want to believe that animals really do have emotions. I think their own emotions are getting in the way of logic. When I read all of the scientific evidence about electrical stimulation of subcortical brain systems, the only logical conclusion was that the basic emotion systems are similar in humans and all other mammals. I used cerebral, logical thinking to help reform slaughterhouses, and I used the same logical thought processes to fully accept the existence of emotions in animals.
**For those who don't know, Temple Grandin is a pHD professor, and a proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter, the author of over 60 scientific papers on animal behavior, and is a consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior. She is a spokesperson for autism and animals. She helped designed the slaughter systems we have today, which make slaughter less painful, less scary, and easier for all involved.
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Reading Progress
April 22, 2020
–
Started Reading
April 22, 2020
– Shelved
July 4, 2020
–
Finished Reading
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Jul 12, 2020 07:34AM
I've heard interviews with Temple Grandin, she has fascinating insights in to the minds of animals. Will definitely look for this book!
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I recommend it, especially to anyone who is curious about animal psychology. One of the tidbits shared that sort of blew my mind was about the myths surrounding wolf packs. There's a documentary available that follows a man who watches wolves on an island for over a decade that I've now put on my to-watch list because of this book!
Great review! I couldn't agree more.I do have some unread Temple Grandin books somewhere. Just somehow never got around to read them. Our supplier of grass-fed beef and cage-free eggs had recommended them. (My husband is almost vegan, and I, who I have been battling with becoming vegetarian for decades, eat only very little meat.)
