Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare - Hardcover

Bekoff, Marc

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0313299773 ISBN 13: 9780313299773

Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group, 1998

Synopsis

From the use of animals in experiments to develop medicine for people to the preservation of endangered species in zoos, human beings' responsibility to and for their fellow animals has become an increasingly controversial subject. This book, which Jane Goodall in her foreword calls unique, informative, and exciting, provides a provocative overview of the many different perspectives on the issues of animal rights and animal welfare in an easy-to-use encyclopedic format. Students, teachers, and interested readers can explore the ideas of well-known philosophers, biologists, and psychologists in this field, such as Peter Singer, Tom Regan, and over 125 others, all of whom have contributed original entries.

Bekoff has provided a wide variety of well-chosen entries, defining terms and concepts and providing brief biographies, all of which relate to the topics of animal rights and animal welfare from the perspectives of many different disciplines: philosophy, psychology, ethology, anthropology, ecology, sociology, education, law, history, politics, theology, veterinary science, and public administration. The multidisciplinary approach allows users to critically examine the varied angles and arguments and gain a better understanding of the history and development of animal rights and animal protectionist movements worldwide.

About this title

About the Author

MARC BEKOFF is Professor in the Department of Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology, University of Colorado, and a fellow of the Animal Behavior Society and a Guggenheim Fellow. He has authored or edited 10 books and is primarily interested in the development and evolution of social behavior, animal cognition, and issues that center on human-animal relations.

CARRON A. MEANEY is a Research Associate at the Denver Museum of Natural History and the University of Colorado Museum. She is the coauthor of books on natural history, and her interests center on mammals.

Reviews

Grade 7 Up?Concerned with the dignity of animals and humans' responsibilities toward them, this book offers both sides of major issues regarding animal rights, including both theoretical matters and practical applications. The signed entries are alphabetically arranged and contain cross-references to other relevant topics. Each one is followed by a selected bibliography. Topics include "Animal Cognition," "Education and the Use of Animals," "Genetic Engineering," "Hunting," "Laboratory Animal Use," "Pain," "Pet Theft," "Reproductive Control," "Sympathy for Animals," and "Zoos." A chronology of historical events related to the use of animals and animal rights precedes the entries. Appendixes include a list of related organizations along with Internet URLs, addresses, and contact names and a comprehensive bibliography and index. A welcome addition to the literature on this increasingly important topic.?Dana McDougald, Cedar Shoals High School, Athens, GA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Opening most appropriately with a foreword by Jane Goodall, this unique work offers about 170 essays by well-known names in the animal industry who represent many fields, among them psychology, philosophy, biology, ethology, sociology, anthropology, history, education, and law. The result is a welcome multidisciplinary approach that shows us the extensive roles nonhuman animals play in virtually all areas of our lives. The essays are well reasoned and often extensive; "Animal Cognition," for example, is followed by five additional essays, all penned by different contributors, with such titles as "Intelligence" and "Consciousness and Thinking." A chronology of historical events related to animal rights and animal welfare is included, as is an appendix that lists resources on animal welfare and humane education. This monumental work deserves a place in every reference collection.?Peggie Partello, Keene State Coll. Lib., NH
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Although this volume is not encyclopedic, as in covering all facets of animal welfare, it does have good descriptions of the animal rights movement, especially its impact on some types of medical research.

Entries were chosen "by going through numerous books and essays and listing the topics that were covered in these works." Examples include animal boredom, genetic engineering, Humane Slaughter Act, hunting, and rodeos. Some longer discussions, such as animal cognition, are divided into several subsections with different contributors. There are numerous short biographies of persons whose work influenced the animal rights movement, such as Charles Darwin and Leo Tolstoy; only deceased persons are covered. For the most part, the contributors have been careful to present differing viewpoints. Most entries have a short selective bibliography. There is a chronology at the beginning of the volume and a list of resources following the A^-Z entries. These resources include an annotated directory of organizations involved in animal welfare and humane education, as well as print source material. The volume concludes with an index and a list of contributors.

A number of these contributors are professors of philosophy, and many of the entries are steeped in philosophical argument and explanation that, while important to understanding one or more views of the animal rights movement, also put up barriers to popular consideration. In addition to discussions of animal shelters, mice as laboratory animals, vegetarianism, and zoos, there are entries for deep ethology, painism, sentientism, and virtue ethics. The language and the level of discussion make the book more appropriate for academic libraries than for school and public libraries.

Edition details

• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0313299773
• ISBN 13: 9780313299773
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 472