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BOOK
ILLUMINATIONS
From Merrimon Book Reviews
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The Bond:
Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them
by Wayne Pacelle
In THE BOND, Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane
Society of the United States, explores the bond between animals and
humans on multiple levels from the historic, the scientific, the
religious and the personal. From there, he proceeds to
demonstrate how this bond has been broken. He details the
systematic cruelty of animals in the current industrialization of
agriculture through examples of a closed slaughterhouse in California
and an egg factory. Wayne Pacelle discusses his encounters
with Michael Vick, a famous NFL player sentenced to 18 months for
dogfighting. Pacelle examines the effect of Hurricane Katrina not
only for the devastation caused to pets, but also to the human
outpouring of help to pet owners and how this event changed
disaster aid protocol. The author examines the wildlife
slaughters of bison, wolves and seals near Yellowstone, in Alaska and
the ice floes of Canada. In the final section, Wayne Pacelle
examines the arguments given by the opposition to animal protection
while unraveling the network of groups from the National Rifle
Association to the more surprising American Veterinary Medical
Association and the American Kennel Club who block animal welfare
progress and sometimes even adopt policies that create abuse.
Wayne Pacelle concludes his examination of the bond between animals and
humans with a call to celebrate our stewardship and to move away from
the exploitation of animals.
Who would not want to minimize cruelty to animals? The answers
are sometimes surprising. From the beginning, Pacelle juxtaposes
the two poles of the human's relationship to animals. Wayne
Pacelle's THE BOND balances stories of horrendous abuse with stories
that warm the heart, leaving one with hope about the future. The
stories of progress, such as that of the animal sanctuary Cleveland
Armory Black Beauty Ranch and the inscription at its entryway, are
often the ones to bring tears to the eyes.
Despite the adorable heart-warming book jacket illustration, I found
myself hesitant to read this book. Could I really stomach the
tales of the cruelty, especially when everyday I see the results in the
special needs dog I adopted? Was the book just another
justification for another extremist position on animals? I opened
the first chapter. Though sometimes moved to tears by tales of
goodness, those hesitations quickly fell by the wayside the more I
read. One need not hesitate to pick up this particular book for
those reasons. Pacelle does not sanitize the suffering animals
endure but neither does he sensationalize the details in an effort to
inflame readers. The facts are presented without bashing a reader
over the head with graphic details. Indeed, the most intriguing
part of this book is the author's ability to examine both poles, the
abusive and the protective, in the human interaction with
animals. Most
fascinating is the author's ability to look into the face of the
issues and to find unexpected sources to assist in animal
welfare, from Michael Vick to veterinarian, gun supporter and former
US Senator Allard. A reader might expect a position against puppy
mills or the NRA's arguments, but the author looks beyond stereotypical
divides. He does not hesitate to question some of PETA's
assumptions or even animal shelters' ingrained acceptance of
euthanasia. He not only looks at puppy mills but also the
consequent effects in AKC priority of breeding for looks over
health. He proposes a possible more financially beneficial
business to replace seal slaughtering. The author explores all
sorts of ways in which we as humans betray the bond with animals but he
leaves a reader with hope and innovative, creative solutions to
problems that might seem insurmountable.
THE BOND is a provocative book for its ability to encourage readers to
think beyond stereotypes or absolutes. Wayne Pacelle's book also
gives readers a glimpse into today's Humane Society as an organization
that not only helps with shelters but also expands into many areas of
animal welfare. A list of of Fifty Ways to Help Animals at the
end of the book gives readers many ideas how they can help. The
list engages readers on all levels rather than being a rigid
manifesto. Not all readers will want to follow his every
suggestion, but the list provides several areas to rethink our actions
and multiple levels of involvement in animal welfare. THE BOND is
a book to make you think and yearn for a more humane world, with clear
ideas how we as a society and individuals might move towards that
goal.
Publisher: William
Morrow
(April 5, 2011)
The Humane Society of the United States receives a portion of the
advances paid by the publisher and possible future royalties.
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
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