Bekoff - The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons for Expanding Our Compassion Footprint

Praise for The Animal Manifesto

The Animal Manifesto is Marc Bekoffs gentle challenge that we all go a little further in extending the boundaries of our compassion toward nonhuman animals. I found it hard to resist the call of a work so brimming with awe, insight, and optimism concerning the creatures who share our world. You will too.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of
the Humane Society of the United States

We need books like this. We need writers like Marc Bekoff to remind us of the emotional lives of animals and of our mismanagement of the wild. We need to be reminded that we share this world with other animals, that we do not own it, that we do not even run it. We ignore all of this not only at our peril, but to our great loss.

Martha Grimes, bestselling author of Dakota

For more than thirty years, Marc Bekoff has occupied a unique niche in the social movement to advance moral concern for animals, functioning as a fearless scientist relentlessly pressing the scientific community to recognize the reality of animal thought, feeling, and emotion; as a philosopher articulating the grounds for an expanded moral vision of animals; and as a tireless advocate for justice for all creatures. In The Animal Manifesto, he has distilled his knowledge and efforts into a document that should inspire all of us to expand our compassion footprint in thought and action. Bekoff is incapable of writing a boring paragraph, and his text is peppered with unforgettable anecdotes as well as fascinating scientific data. I strongly recommend this book.

Bernard E. Rollin, bioethicist and professor of philosophy,
animal sciences, and biomedical sciences at Colorado State University

Marc Bekoff at his best! He enhances our respect and understanding of animals using the science of ethology and philosophical inquiry to explain their behavior, and in the process awakens our compassionate concern for all creatures great and small.

Dr. Michael W. Fox, veterinarian, syndicated columnist,
and author of Dog Body, Dog Mind and Cat Body, Cat Mind

Proof that animals are wistful, altruistic, tender, jealous, and conversational. But are these interesting facts to use to enliven a cocktail party, or do human obligations ensue when we realize that the intelligent life forms we seek in space are all around us here on earth? Marc Bekoffs challenge to humanity to relate to those on the plate and in other places no sentient being deserves to be is riveting reading that may occupy your thoughts long after the last page is turned and the lights are out.

Ingrid E. Newkirk, founder of
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

As a humane educator, I am always searching for books about pressing global issues that teach through critical thinking and inspire us to deeply embody our values. Marc Bekoff has written a superb book, with a gentle voice, one that will make each reader a better person and will go far to creating a more compassionate world for animals. He offers us crucial knowledge about animals, ignites our curiosity, and fosters our reverence, respect, and responsibility. Ive never read a more convincing and powerful call for compassion. You will be changed by this book. It will be required reading for my students.

Zoe Weil, president of the Institute for Humane Education
and author of Most Good, Least Harm; Above All, Be Kind; and
The Power and Promise of Humane Education

New World Library 14 Pamaron Way Novato, California 94949

Copyright 2010 by Marc Bekoff

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Text design by Mary Ann Casler

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bekoff, Marc.
The animal manifesto : six reasons for expanding our compassion
footprint / Marc Bekoff.

p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-57731-649-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Emotions in animals. 2. Human-animal relationships. 3. Animal
behavior. I. Title. QL785.27.B448 2010 179.3 dc22 2009043833

First printing, February 2010
ISBN 978-1-57731-649-7
Printed in Canada on 100% post-consumer-waste recycled paper

New World Library is a proud member of the Green Press Initiative.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In October 2008, when I was visiting the Moon Bear Rescue
Centre outside of Chengdu, China, I met seven dogs to whom I
dedicate this book: Henry, Matilde, Stevie, Lady Lobster,
Butch, Tremor (aka Rambo), and Richter.

I also dedicate this book to the billions of anonymous
animals who are in dire need of our support,
and to all the wonderful people worldwide who are
working hard to better the lives of animals, who dearly
need our kindness, compassion, empathy, and love.

And also to Sarah for her unwavering passion.

INTRODUCTION
Our Common Bonds of Compassion

REASON 1
All Animals Share the Earth and We Must Coexist

REASON 2
Animals Think and Feel

REASON 3
Animals Have and Deserve Compassion

REASON 4
Connection Breeds Caring, Alienation Breeds Disrespect

REASON 5
Our World Is Not Compassionate to Animals

REASON 6
Acting Compassionately Helps All Beings and Our World

Anyone who says that life matters less to animals than it does to us has not held in his hands an animal fighting for its life. The whole of the being of the animal is thrown into that fight, without reserve.

Elizabeth Costello, in The Lives of Animals by J. M. Coetzee

ANIMALS ARE CONSTANTLY ASKING US in their own ways to treat them better or leave them alone. This book is their manifesto. In it, I explain what they want and need from us and why they are fully justified in making these requests. We must stop ignoring their gaze and closing our hearts to their pleas. We can easily do what they ask to stop causing them unnecessary pain, suffering, loneliness, sadness, and death, even extinction. Its a matter of making different choices: about how we conduct research to learn about the natural world and to develop human medicine, about how we entertain ourselves, about what we buy, where we live, who we eat, who we wear, and even family planning. Please join me. The animals need us, and just as importantly, we need them. This manifesto presents a much-needed revolution a paradigm shift in what we feel and what we do regarding animals that has to happen now because the current paradigm doesnt work. The status quo has wreaked havoc on animals and Earth. Denial and apathy must be replaced by urgency. If we all work to improve the lives of animals, we will improve our lives as well.

Of course, its hard to speak for the animals, but because they share so much with us, its not presumptuous to believe that what they want isnt so different from what we want: to avoid pain, to be healthy, to feel love. Their feelings are as important to them as our feelings are to us. Even further, many living beings seem wired to do good and to make others feel good. The central theme of