Mark Hawthorne - Bleating Hearts: The Hidden World of Animal Suffering

A staggering investigation into the ethics of animal exploitation around the world, Bleating Hearts pulls no punches as it examines the many ways humans use and abuse our fellow creatures. Hawthorne artfully travels to the darkest corners of animal suffering, bringing to light not only the disturbing truth about peoples mistreatment of nonhumans, but what we can do about it. Eloquently written and thoroughly researched, this doesnt just belong on every animal advocates bookshelfit deserves to be discussed and shared. This is a brilliant, powerfully persuasive book that will inspire you to make a difference.

Ric OBarry, founder of The Dolphin Project

If there is a place in your heart for animals, this is an important book for you to read. But it is also more than that. If you want to lift the veil of denial, so that you can make your life an effective statement of compassion, youll find this book to be nothing less than extraordinary.

John Robbins, author of The Food Revolution and Diet for a New America and co-founder of the Food Revolution Network (foodrevolution.org)

In the face of information that might render us speechless, Mark Hawthorne is thorough and articulate. Bleating Hearts empowers us with ways to challenge what has been both normal and hidden, making this book a remarkable achievement of vision and voice.

Carol J. Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat

I cant think of any recent book that so comprehensively covers animal issues and gets it so consistently right. If everyone read it, the amount of suffering in the world would be reduced considerably, for it would be impossible to read Bleating Hearts and not be moved toward the vegan way of life. His facts are incontrovertible, his arguments are convincing, his detailed analyses are persuasive. This is a powerful and wonderful book that I cannot recommend enough.

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals and The Face on Your Plate: The Truth About Food

Mark Hawthornes Bleating Hearts is a rare accomplishment. Both encyclopedic and incisive, it should be required reading for every consumer with a conscience. His penetrating overview of our often unthinking and always multifaceted exploitation of nonhuman animals reminds us how deeply invested material culture is in horrors that, by design, we are not supposed to see. Hawthorne sheds an uncompromising light not just on our poor treatment of farmed animals, but of all animals, including those we abuse for fashion, entertainment, recreation, and even art. In allowing the reality of the human-animal relationship to speak for itself, Bleating Hearts will fundamentally change the way you look not just at animals, but at the world we share with them.

James McWilliams, author of Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly and The Politics of the Pasture: How Two Oxen Sparked a National Discussion about Eating Animals

Bleating Hearts is gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. Its also a shining beacon of hope that simply must be read by anyone who envisions a compassionate world. By unveiling the hidden atrocities committed against animals, Mark Hawthorne arms us with the most powerful tool for change: awareness. Once we know, we cant but act.

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, bestselling author and creator of The 30- Day Vegan Challenge

An important, timely addition to unmasking the myth of the humane treatment of nonhuman animals. Hawthornes searing indictment is must reading for both those new to the animal rights movement and for seasoned animal rights activists.

Tom Regan, author of The Case for Animal Rights and Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights

This book deserves to be widely read. Well-researched and eloquently written, it is a most comprehensive overview of the cowardly and brutal way humans treat animals the world over. Bleating Hearts requires some courage as many chapters make for harrowing reading. Thankfully, this book also offers hope and features many organizations and individuals that will inspire readers to stand up for the animals we share the planet with.

Hans Kriek, executive director of SAFE New Zealand

Please dont read this book if you want a happy ending. Mark Hawthornes depth and research surrounding the fragility and lives of our animal kin exposes too many secret shames, sees an inevitable self-reflection, and should be mandatory reading for us all. A Chinese saying encapsulates perhaps something we can all do to create the kinder world that so many species deserve: To close your eyes will not ease anothers pain. Open your eyes, read, reflect, react, and be part of the dramatic change this book demands.

Jill Robinson, MBE, founder of Animals Asia Foundation

Mark Hawthorne speaks with a deep knowledge and passion. Its a heady mix that suffuses you with a desire to change the world. The shocking tales of animal cruelty are hard to comprehend, and Bleating Hearts may well make you angry and indeed could spark an eternal hunger for justice in your soul. The world needs us to use the facts so well laid out before us in this poignant book, to call for a revolution in societys institutionalized blindness in its treatment of animals. An excellent book that will sway hearts and minds forever.

Juliet Gellatley, founder and director of Viva!

In Bleating Hearts: The Hidden World of Animal Suffering, Mark Hawthorne shines a desperately needed and penetrating light on the underbelly of the human-nonhuman animal relationship. Hawthorne has written this book to speak for the billions of animals who have no voice. It has taken a great deal of courage to bear witness to and then put into words the mindboggling amount of animal suffering that most of humanity chooses not to see. This is not an easy read, but it is a must-read. And, once you read this book, you will no longer be able to say: I didnt know what was going on. And, moreover, once you know, I hope, I pray that you will take action.

Joyce Tischler, founder of the Animal Legal Defense Fund

Bleating Hearts is a gracefully written, authoritative account of our mistreatment of our nonhuman neighbors. Exhaustively researched and meticulously sourced, it exposes the entire panoply of suffering that we inflict on animalssuffering that the animal exploitation industries keep carefully hidden from our view. Written in a clear, straightforward style with no sensationalism or deliberate attempts to shock, Hawthornes descriptions of animal abuse throughout our society command our attention by their very judiciousness. Bleating Hearts is among the most important animal rights books of the 21st century.

Norm Phelps, author of The Longest Struggle: Animal Advocacy from Pythagoras to PETA and Changing the Game: Why the Battle for Animal Liberation Is So Hard and How We Can Win It

Much as you might spin a desk globe, this book allows you to stop and put your finger on any of the many issues concerning animals in the world and look at it up close, especially those the public almost never hears about. Stories and statistics provide the reader with a clear view of the sometimes surprising issues that involve animals, and while each chapter will leave you informed, often aghast, they will no doubt motivate many to absent themselves from inadvertent participation in cruelty and, instead, adopt animal-friendly choices. A useful, accessible, riveting read.