Barbara J. King

Starting with stories of her own experiences and interactions with a variety of animals, Barbara King discusses the importance and possibilities of "compassionate action" towards other animals at home, in the wild, in zoos, in agriculture, and in research. For the most part, King provides a moderate and ethics-driven perspective on each aspect of human-animal interaction, and though she has strong and well-expressed feelings on each, she doesn't hold to a hard line and instead argues for any actions (or ceasing of actions) that improve life for all living things. Though published by a university press, the tone is conversational and accessible, so the book would be appropriate for interested students as well as for adult readers.… (mere)

I particularly chose this book because of my enjoyment of books that carry me into a new world for me. I don’t dislike animals but do not consider myself to be an animal “lover”. Also, I do not like to go outside among wildlife. I appreciate how this book explained many things about the animal world that I did not know and did so in an enjoyable manner. I also was fascinated by the author’s compassion for and understanding of animals which goes far beyond the norm. I highly recommend this book for those who do not know much about this topic and want to learn more.… (mere)

I wanted this book to be better than it is. Barbara King’s plea is for every human being to find their own ways to exercise compassionate action for animals. Although we cannot know exactly how animals experience the world, they share with us the gift of life. Each individual animal has a moral right to the best possible existence.

Professor King’s position on care for animals is deliberately in the middle of the scale which, at one end, attributes to animals the ability to feel pain and to be conscious of their desire for a good life, to the other end of animals not being self-aware in any way.

I concur with Barbara King that an attentive encounter with an animal is a real communion. I remember the thrill of being aboard a whale-watching boat in Albany when a magnificent humpback whale interacted with us for about 20 minutes.

I share with her the joyful fascination of extraordinary creatures like WA’s brightly-coloured peacock spider.

And I agree with her assertion that we human beings must do our best to help animals flourish. But her book disappointed me. She gave many enchanting examples of animals – and other disturbing accounts of the mistreatment of animals in laboratories, in roadside zoos, chained as private pets.

The book promised links to fascinating footage, YouTube videos and so on. Unfortunately, at least in my Kindle edition, there were no hyperlinks, so I was discouraged from looking these up.

The book is carefully researched balancing science and anecdote. But there was little new in the book to challenge or inspire. It may be a beginners’ book for people who have done little thinking on animals’ own perspectives. The best thing for me was the plea to continue to look further into the animal world; to find new creatures to delight in, especially the unlovable ones!… (mere)

4.5 stars

In this book, anthropologist Barbara King brings examples of situations where she believes those animals are grieving. She also provides examples where it's not that easy to tell.

I really liked this. Of course, with my love for animals, I do believe animals feel and grieve. I borrowed this book from a friend who was doing research for school, so I wasn't sure how “academic” it would be, but because there really haven't been scientific studies on the topic, these really are more anecdotes, which is more enjoyable for the casual reader (like me!), anyway.… (mere)