Friday, Aug 21, 2009

Book Review & Giveaway: The PeTA Practical Guide to Animal Rights by Ingrid Newkirk

Author: Ingrid Newkirk

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

ISBN #:   978-0-312-55994-6

Type:  Non-Fiction:Instructional

Pages: 469 Trade Paperback

Published:  June 23, 2009

Website:  HERE

Purchase:  $12.89 (HERE) 

The Summary

Ingrid Newkirk has written a thorough and usable guide to making changes in your life that improve the overall welfare of the animals who share our earth. 

This detailed book includes PeTA’s suggestions on:

• How to eat healthfully and compassionately
• How to help get animals out of laboratories
• How to make a difference for animals in puppy mills
• How to make your vote count and change public opinion
• How to switch to cruelty-free cosmetics and clothing
• How to choose activities that protect rather than exploit animals

The topics outlined in the book include:

• Making the choice to eat Vegan
• Animals in the entertainment industry
• Zoos & circus
• Hunting & Fishing
• Humane treatment of pets & animal companions
• Laboratory testing on animals
• Making the choice to purchase cruelty-free products
• Saying “no” to dissection
• Dealing with pests ethically
• Choosing charities & organizations that are PeTA approved      

The Review

There is so much room for improvement in the way that we honor and respect the animals of our earth.  In a beautiful way, Newkirk brings forth amazing facts about the animal kingdom and the special talents and innate abilities of many species.  For example, did you know that dolphins could “see” through the human body to detect cancer?  I sure didn’t… but, I did know that my doggies are always sniffing at the ouchies on my body and wanting to lick them!   

After enlightening her readers on the remarkable beauty of the animal kingdom, Newkirk shares the attrocities of animal abuse.  In today’s world, I blindly have come to the assumption that most of these acts of terror have been, on a large scale, eradicated.  Unfortunately, there are still horrendous acts of hate and ignorance being inflicted upon animals.  What Newkirk offers in this book are solutions and ways to enact change today and in the future.  Ultimately, it comes to making better choices and using your voice to make a difference. 

One of the biggest changes that Newkirk recommends is becoming vegan.  Vegans do not consume animal meat or products.  Yes, this includes dairy products and eggs (and, for most… honey as well).  This is a huge step to change and a complete lifestyle change.  Two years ago, I become a 90% vegetarian.  I did eat select fish, however I primarily ate all fruits & vegetables.  Although I was not vegan and I still ate dairy & eggs, I managed to hold to this vegetarian commitment in eating for nearly a year.  However, I just had such a hard time with it because my children are not vegetarian and I was constantly cooking two different types of foods.   

After reading this book, I am re-committed to my eating lifestyle.  I’m going to try to ensure that I eat primarily vegetarian, however allow myself the occasional treat every now and again.  Although this guide does confirm that you can get all of the proteins and required nutrition from a completely vegan diet, I am unwilling to change my daugther’s diets until they have completed their growth.  Also, I feel that a change of this magnitude should be their personal decision at this stage in their life and development.

Another commitment that I am going to make is being more aware of my consumerism.  I will try to purchase products that have affirmed that they do not test on animals.  In addition, I will avoid purchasing leather and wool.  I already avoid furs, feathers, and things along that line.  I will also avoid attending circuses that exploit animals.

For my regular readers, you may already know that I am a huge animal lover.  For the most part, I agreed with the majority of this book.  However, there are some topics that I cannot fully agree with.  I’ll give a small example… this book claims that dogs should never be placed in crates.  Our pup, Claire, loves her huge, comfy crate in Dee Dee’s bedroom.  It’s covered in a pretty blanket, super big, and has wonderful warm bedding on the inside (along with toys, bones, etc.).  When she’s ready for bed, she walks right on in there and treats it almost like a den.  In the morning, she doesn’t even want to go outside and likes to linger in there.  As she gets older and less likely to chase and terrorize the cats during the night while we sleep, I may try to encourage her to sleep freely in the house.  Our lab, Tori, has the full run of the house and we have no issues with her and the kitties.  However, for now the arrangement seems to be just fine with both Claire &  us.  Also, when we travel on long trips, the two large dog crates/pens fit into the back of the car nicely.  I feel that everybody is safer on a long trip when they are secured.  The book is adamantly against the use of crates.  Based on my experience with my dogs, I disagree.  The crate training worked wonders for both of our dogs, even though Tori’s outgrown it and no longer needs it except for in the travel that I mentioned.  There are a few other topics in the book that I found to be a tad extremist and don’t agree with 100%… although, I can definitely see Newkirk’s point.

Plain and simple… if readers of this book can make even 1 or 2 lifestyle changes out of this book, then there will be improvement in the protection of animals.  It may not be everybody’s choice to follow this book to the “T,” however it’s an eye-opening guide that gives some great advice and knowledge. 

Oh… a tip that I read that I found new and interesting… cockroaches can’t stand bay leaves.  If you’ve got a problem area (i.e. under the kitchen sink or what not), place a few bay leaves in the area and they’ll stay away! 

Win A Copy…

I’ve got one copy to give away to a reader!  You should know that there are some wonderful resources in this book including a list of companies to purchase from that are animal-safe!  You can win a copy by:

* Entering a comment before August 28th, 2009

* +1 entry if you sign up as a Google Friend in my sidebar

* +1 entry if you subscribe via Google Reader

* +1 entry if you Tweet about this contest on Twitter

* +1 if you share in your comment about your loved animal companion

The Rating

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale,” I am giving this book a rating of 8.5 out of 10 for the genre Non-Fiction:Instructional.  The research and resources are very thorough and useful!  I appreciate the way that one of my most cherished animal rights groups, The Sea Shephards, are mentioned in the book.  Also, I believe that the subject matter holds a lot of importance in today’s world and our future!

Giving Thanks

I wanted to thank Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. for being so generous as to send me my review copy as well as contributing the giveaway copy.

-oh… and, on animals expressing love… watch this…

10 Comments