“Humanity’s survival depends upon our learning to live in harmony with all other species. The second law of ecology is the law of interdependence. Without bees, phytoplankton, worms and trees we cannot live; without dogs, cats, horses, elephants and penguins we cannot be truly happy. We are a part of them as they are a part of us and together we are the planet Earth. Ingrid Newkirk and Gene Stone have done a wonderful service to us all with their stories of kindness and compassion. The book is truly inspiring.”
— Captain Paul Watson, CEO and founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Description
The founder and president of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, and bestselling author Gene Stone explore the wonders of animal life with “admiration and empathy” (The New York Times Book Review) and offer tools for living more kindly toward them.
In the last few decades, a wealth of new information has emerged about who animals are: astounding beings with intelligence, emotions, intricate communications networks, and myriad abilities. In Animalkind, Ingrid Newkirk and Gene Stone present these findings in a concise and awe-inspiring way, detailing a range of surprising discoveries, like that geese fall in love and stay with a partner for life, that fish “sing” underwater, and that elephants use their trunks to send subsonic signals, alerting other herds to danger miles away.
Newkirk and Stone pair their tour through the astounding lives of animals with a guide to the exciting new tools that allow humans to avoid using or abusing animals as we once did. Whether it’s medicine, product testing, entertainment, clothing, or food, there are now better options to all the uses animals once served in human life. We can substitute warmer, lighter faux fleece for wool, choose vegan versions of everything from shrimp to marshmallows, reap the benefits of animal-free medical research, and scrap captive orca exhibits and elephant rides for virtual reality and animatronics.
Animalkind provides a fascinating look at why our fellow living beings deserve our respect, and lays out the steps everyone can take to put this new understanding into action.
Reviews
“Thought-provoking... Animalkind will have you thinking about the creatures that share our planet — their astonishing capabilities and emotions, and the ways in which we could improve how we cohabit with them.”
— Columbus Dispatch
“What Animalkind reveals only reinforces my belief that some of the most brilliant individuals you could ever hope to meet have fur, fins or feathers.”
— Alan Cumming, stage and screen actor
"We share this planet and the same kingdom with the animals and although we feel superior to them, they have senses that far surpass ours. This book shows how much we have to learn from them beginning with compassion, simplicity and unconditional love. It is a must read."
— Dr. Marty Goldstein, author of The Nature of Animal Healing