animalkind Remarkable Discoveries about Animals and Revolutionary New Ways to Show Them Compassion
June 22, 2020 • Trends • Health & Wellness
Forty years ago, Ingrid Newkirk founded PETA – the largest animal rights organization in the world. Ever since, she has been an unstoppable force in the animal rights movement. Now, Newkirk joins bestselling author Gene Stone to publish ANIMALKIND, a brilliant introduction to the richness of animal lives and the many ways in which all of us can act to prevent harm to animals. Newkirk and Stone explore the wonders of animal life and offer tools for living more kindly toward our neighbors on our shared planet.
We've witnessed awe-inspiring progress since PETA was founded in 1980 – growing consumer demand for vegan products; circus bans around the country and the world; plant-based meat alternatives and lab-cultured "clean meat" that greatly reduce the impact of animal agriculture; major fashion designers rejecting fur in their designs and a vote to ban the sale of fur in California; the EPA's recent decision to move away from requiring potentially harmful chemical testing on animals; the New York City Council passing local legislation that includes banning the sale of foie gras in NYC, protecting wild birds from poaching, creating an official Mayor’s Office of Animal Welfare; cities around the US adopting the Meatless Mondays initiative, and so much more. And yet, there is still work to be done to protect animals from needless harm. Whether it’s medicine, product testing, entertainment, clothing, or food, better options are available for all of the uses that animals once served in human life.
In the first part of ANIMALKIND, Newkirk and Stone illustrate animals’ intricate emotions, their sophisticated communication methods, and their stunning intelligence and empathy. How do animals communicate? Navigate their environment? Exhibit love, grief, happiness? Newkirk and Stone offer surprising revelations about our fellow living beings:
- ● Birds have been found to be far more devoted to their romantic partners than humans. While the divorce rate in the U.S. is around 40 to 45 percent, swans, for instance, have a 95 percent rate of staying together for a lifetime.
- ● Oinks, grunts, and squeals aren’t just arbitrary noises made by pigs. More than twenty of these sounds have been identified with specific circumstances, from wooing mates to expressing distress and joy.
- ● Cows communicate with each other using subtle changes in facial expression; rhinos use a breath language; and frogs have learned to combat street noise by using drain pipes to amplify their calls.
- ● Chickens form complex pecking orders in which each bird not only understands her ranking, but can recall the faces and ranks of more than one hundred other birds.
- The second part of ANIMALKIND outlines the exciting new tools that allow humans to create a better world for animals. Newkirk and Stone provide simple ways in which we can all avoid using or abusing animals, focusing on the four fields where animals are most often exploited: medical science, clothing, entertainment, and food. Advances in technology are increasingly able to replace harmful medical experiments on animals, and innovations in animal-free materials have led major fashion designers to take a stand against using real fur. ANIMALKIND offers alternatives for all the uses animals once served in our lives, and it includes actionable items that readers can apply in their own lives. Among many improvements, industries and individuals can,
- ● Substitute faux fleece and apple or grape leather for animal hide and hair.
- ● Invest in plant-based nutrition as an alternative to artery-clogging animal-based products.
- ● Spare monkeys a life behind bars in laboratory cages by embracing human cell technology.
- ● Swap captive orca exhibits and elephant rides for virtual reality and animatronics.
- ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Ingrid Newkirk, cofounder of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), is the acclaimed author of Save the Animals! 101 Things You Can Do, Kids Can Save the Animals, and The Compassionate Cook. She lives in Washington, DC.
Gene Stone has written, cowritten, or ghost-written more than forty-five books on a wide variety of subjects, including the bestsellers Forks Over Knives, How Not to Die, Living the Farm Sanctuary Life, and The Engine 2 Diet
